The Legend of Legends
by myshadowspirit
Summary: No world is perfect. None with out hatred. None with out it's mistakes. None without a war...a great war.
1. Proluge The Legend

The Legend

Nothingness. It swarmed everywhere. There was no up, no down no right or left or sound or feeling or anything. Just nothingness. Then suddenly, in the midst of the nothingness came a single note. A sound that was so beautiful no mortal could have produce or even hear. A bright white light appeared.

Something has awoken.

She blinked silver eyes, with long eyelashes. Shaking her head she released her endless white hair. The beautiful ringing came again, coming from silver hooped earrings that hung from long pointed ears. She stretched her long white arms, and started walking on imaginary ground. Her white sleeveless bodices clung to her as a wind, coming from nowhere, blew. Her skirt slit to the hips blew like a flag.

She stopped and looked around, somehow knowing this to be the right location. A mark on her forehead, appearing to be a flower started to glow and she smiled. A jewel, incased with silver wrapped around her arm, grew with power, along with a diamond on her chained belt. Then three seeds magically appeared in her hand.

She placed the red one down. It exploded to flames and reappeared as a little girl with ruby eyes and flaming hair. The white goddess smiled at her new daughter.

"Child of fire and power, your name shall be Din." Din stared at her mother with wide eyes and a hanging jaw as she laid down the blue seed.

The blue seed melted and reformed to another little girl, this one having sapphire eyes and flowing blue hair.

"Nayru, Child of wisdom, water and love." She smiled at her and Nayru gave back a shy smile.

Finally, she planted the green seed. Roots grew out of it, as if it was a tree. A huge bud grew too, forming a plant. Eventually the plant died away leaving behind a child, this one having emerald eyes and green hair.

"Farore, child of courage, wind and life." Farore giggled and threw up her arms, asking to be picked up.

She took Din and Nayru in one arm and Farore in the other. "Come, my children, for you have a lot to learn." As she walked Din pulled on Nayru's hair, causing her to cry, while Farore played with her mother's earrings and necklace. The necklace had three strange symbols. One was red, one blue, and one green. She smiled again. Yes, they did have a lot to learn.

Long Time Later

Three golden goddesses descended from the heavens. One was red, one blue and one green. The three beautiful women stopped to regain themselves from their light speed flight.

"So I guess we're here" said Farore.

"Finally away from Mother and Father! We can do anything we want! We can make our own world!" said Din.

"But I _miss_ Mother!" Nayru said sadly.

"It's ok Nayru. We'll see her again someday. And Din, remember _we're_ making this world _together!_ You're not doing this all by yourself!"

"Don't worry little sister," Din said with a smile. She pulled out a rock from nowhere. "I'm leaving plenty of stuff for you guys to do."

The rock started to float in front of her and she put her hands together and closed her eyes. Flames sprang from her body, which happened every time she was concentrating hard. (Which doesn't happen much.) Then with a Bang that made both Farore and Nayru flinch, the rock expanded. Then with another Bang it expanded further, and further and further till it was about the same size as Din. She opened her eyes which were glowing yellow and threw her arms around the bolder and flew upward, throwing the bolder down, with another Bang it grew. She stomped on it. Bang! Then Bang! Bang! Bang! This continued till it was planet size. She flew around molding mountains, carving canyons and creating volcanoes. She danced in the lava as if it were rain. She soon grew tired and returned to her sisters.

Nayru pulled out a big book. "Hey, what's that?" asked Din trying to look over her shoulder.

"My laws." Nayru hugged the book to her chest. "It has everything that is wrong and everything that is right."

Din grabbed the book from Nayru and started to read the "Wrong" pages. "What kind of book is this? Pulling hair, telling lies, stealing! What's wrong with that? They're fun!"

Nayru glared at Din.

"What's this one say, . . . Taking the book of laws from Nayru. Ah . . . here you can have your old dumb book back." Din threw the book at Nayru.

Nayru carefully smoothed out the pages. Then all of a sudden the book melted into water. Nayru guided it together and poured the water into the planet and then returned to her sisters.

Then Farore pulled out seeds and let the wind blow them around the world, making forests and jungles. After that was done, she pulled out a box. Din looked up.

"Din if you lay one finger on this I'll hurt you." She opened the box and carefully dumped the contents. Out came every animal you could imagine and some she made on her own. Things like Gerudo, Gorons, Zoras, Hylians, Kokiris, Skeikah, and some things she didn't know what to call yet.

"So now we're done!" said Din excitedly.

"No Din, we still have to make the Sacred Relic," Nayru informed.

"Oh . . . Huh?"

"Din, of all people!" Farore exclaimed. "We make this thing so the mortals-" Din made another confused face at the word mortals. "Mortals, . . . the things that suck up air."

"Oh!"

"As I was saying, we make this thing so the mortals know that we exist and can worship us!"

"Worship! I like where this is going!"

The goddesses then started to argue about what the Sacred Relic should be. Circle, sphere, blob Shaped, etc.

Down on a tall volcano a phoenix perched its self. His eyes so strong that he could see the goddesses argue. He stretched his huge wings. The wind blew his fiery crest that went alone his long slender neck. He blinked his red eyes to see a white bird.

The bird was swan like and had a long tail like himself. She was all white with a little bit of silver. There was a mark appearing to be a flower on her forehead. She had silver eyes.

"Celestia," The big bird said to her as she landed next to him.

She looked up at him and said "Hello Multus."

"I see your daughters are doing a wonderful job."

Celestia sighed. Farore and Din were having a glaring contest and Nayru looked hopeless.

"You are their father, Multus. You created the seeds. I just made them grow."

He gave a grunting sound.

They stared out into the space, as the argument continued. It seemed that Nayru had suggested something about a triangle.

"Celestia, what are you planning?"

"Nothing," she said guiltily. _Man. He's good._

Multus raised a feathery eyebrow at her. She looked away.

"There is no such thing as a perfect world, Celestia. All we can do is try to make it a happy one and even then we can't make everyone happy."

"What makes you think I'm trying to make a perfect world?"

"Celestia! You didn't teach them anything about evil. You left that task to me, and I'm telling you now that it wasn't fun!" That was the loudest Celestia had ever heard his voice go.

"I'm sorry Multus, but what do you want me to do about it now?"

"I think we should make a hole or a door in their Sacred Relic to let just a little bit of evil to seep in," Celestia gave a worried look. "Because Celestia, if there is no evil, there is no death, if there is no death there is no space or change causing unhappiness and that is only _one_ way that 'Perfect' can go wrong."

"I know that, but we would be interfering with their creations. We promised not to interfere."

"You promised not to interfere. I didn't promise anything. Besides Farore thinks I'm one of her phoenixes. If one of her creations did it, she did it, intentionally or not."

"How did you know that Farore even has phoenixes unless you looked into her box. That's invading privacy."

"You promised not to invade privacy. I didn't promise anything."

Celestia sighed.

"I'm not done yet. You need to give the girls hope. You need to give everyone hope, because hope . . . is everything."

She smiled a bird smile at him. "This is why I love you."

"Why?"

"You make me feel good." She flew off.

"Where are you going?"

"To make hope! You go make your 'hole'."

"So are we good with the triangle ideal?" Farore asked.

"Fine as long as I get to be on top!" Din said.

"Fine! Ok come on guys." They position themselves into a triangle. Their bodies started to glow, as they concentrated. It was the hardest thing they had ever done. It came out to be a simple gold triangle, but they could feel their power in it.

"It's beautiful," Nayru breathed.

"It just looks like some dumb triangle to me," said a bored Din.

Then there was a sudden cry as a big phoenix flew towered it.

"He's going to run in to!" Farore cried frantically.

CRASH! Golden pieces shattered, leaving an upside down triangular hole. With magic he gathered the pieces back together into his claws and flew away. This all happening in a second.

"Well, at least it looks more interesting," Din said looking at the cracked and broken relic. Nayru and Farore just stared wide eyed at it, then Nayru started to cry.

"What are we going to do nooow!" Then Nayru stopped crying. A big white bird flew to them caring three flowers in her beak. Farore could see a spark of green in one.

"Mother?" Nayru asked.

"Yes, my children it is I " She turned back into herself.

"Oh, Mother!" Din cried. "Farore's stupid bird broke are Sacred Relic!"

Farore glared at Din. Somehow this was her fault?

"Oh my children, do not worry." She proceeded to tell them the importance of evil. When she was done, she looked at Nayru.

"You are right Mother."

Then she looked at Farore. "I don't like it, but I guess I'm ok with it."

Then she looked at Din. "Finely! Something interesting is going to happen!" Everyone stared at Din. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Now my children, take these flowers and spread hope to the people." She turned backed into a bird and flew away.

Each of them took a flower. The flowers opened to reveal beautiful stones and they could hear their mother's voice in there heads.

"Farore, the Kokiri's Emerald. Din, the Goron's Ruby and Nayru, the Zora's Sapphire."

Din was grumbling about how ugly Gorons were, but Farore blocked out the sound. She was thinking about what her mother said about hope. The stones must be a key. A key to what? A tool to vanquish evil? "Nayru, do you still have your ocarina?"

"Ah yeah, here it is." She gave it to Farore. Music has a very important power. Now the tool, probably a sword, and to wield the sword, a hero.

"Farore, what's the matter with you?" Din asked

"A hero. We're going to have a hero."


	2. Chapter 1 Clairu

Auther note- Ah...hi, I never thought this stupid chapter would _ever _be finnished. Computers hate me! They just hate me! They're like, "Hey look at her! She's being stupid and hasn't been saving while she types! I know, I'll perform an illegal activity!"

" Word Perfect has perform an illegal activity. It will now shut down." NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Anyway, this thing is so annoying! I'm not a writer! I can't spell for beans and if there is any spelling booboos I'm so sorry. I can't type either. I'm like t...h...e... Why the heck am I doing this!...because I'm crazy! MUHAHAHA!...um yeah. Can you tell this is my first story? If you want to be mean in the reviews go right ahead. It just means I have to distroy you. Toodles.

ps. I have corrected all spelling errors that I could find. Have you noticed I've been spelling 'found' like 'fond'? Very embarrassing. Well it's fix now . . . I hope.

Chapter 1

Clairu

The wind was beaten sand on the dark stone walls. Inside the room was cold which was unusual for the desert. The king laid dying on his stone bed, surrounded by candles.

Clairu felt uneasy in this room. She never thought she'd see the king of the Gerudo like this. He, always so full of life, challenging, daring, was finally dying. She thought he would live forever. He was though, 100. That was the normal life span for a male Gerudo. It's what kelp there race alive, for only one male was born every 100 years. The male would then become the king. The new king would be born in nine months. Who the mother would be was a mystery. It could even be her. She doubted it though. That would be a very small chance but a great honor, of course she didn't really care. Why was she thinking about these things? Let the wiser ones handle it. She was only 16 anyway and she was supposed to be making the king comfortable in his last hours.

"Water please." He groaned. Clairu hurriedly grabbed the bowl of water and lifted his head, spilling some in her haste, but the king did not take notice.

"Thank you, Clairu." There, was an uncomfortable silence. Clairu looked at the old king. Clad in gold body armor with a long black cape, the armor had many dents from long years of battle but it was recently polished and gleamed in the candle light. The orange gem on his head seemed faded. His dark skin now pail and his white receded, hair seemed faded. For the first time in Clairu's life, she thought she looked old. He lifted a hand and stroked Clairu's cheek.

"I believe it is time for us to say goodby." The kings deep voice was a comforting whisper.

Her face was expressionless and she did not look him in the eyes. "I do not like saying goodby."

The king smiled at her. "Nobody does."

There was another silence.

"Are you the last?"

"Yes." Clairu still avoided his eyes.

"I am quite found of you, Clairu. Try not to get into trouble or at least not a lot. No more biting Giselle."

Clairu finally broke her cold expression and smiled. "Aw, but she deserves it!"

The king smiled, then sighed. I need a nap." He always said that when he was feeling old.

"I'll let you have your nap."

He closed his eyes and stopped breathing.

She leaned over and kissed his forehead and left the room.

"Clairu!" A purple and red flash popped out of nowhere and grabbed Clairu's arm. "Come on, Jessie said I couldn't hit a target if it was two inches in front of me. So I said 'You're just afraid to lose against me.' And she got sooo red! And then she challenged me to an archery contest! And I volunteered _you_ to be _my_ partner!" As she talked her red ponytail bounced along with a few locks that were free and a pair of over sized gold earrings. Her smile faded as she saw Clairu's face. "What's wrong? . . .Oh were you the last?"

"Yes."

"So he's gone?"

"Yes."

"Well, he was really old . . . but you two were pretty close. I know what will cheer you up, kicking Jessie's ass in archery!"

"Aren't you so posed to be at your guarding post?" Clairu said, eyeing the girl's uniform. It was a typical Gerudo uniform. Purple puffy pants with golden fasteners at her ankles. Purple fingerless gloves, gold bracelets, Arabic shoes, a gold choker with a matching purple jewels and a skimpy purple top.

"Well I'm having a day off."

"A day off? What happens, Giselle when someone attacks the fortress and we're all dead, 'cause you took a day off!"

"Aw, don't worry Clair, Jenni is taking care of it."Giselle started to walk to the archery setup behind the fortress.

"Jenni? Why would Jenni do that? . . .For you?" Clairu stood there surprised.

"I'm just as surprised as you are!" She called over her shoulder. "Aren't you coming, Sheikah?"

"I am not Sheikan!"

"I knew that would get to you."

Sheikan was an insult to the Gerudo, for the Sheikan were their soul enemy. Clairu didn't know much about them accept that they were supposed to be evil shadow people and that she hated them. When she said she hated them to Giselle, Giselle would point out that she wore Sheikan clothes. Her shirt was blue and red, Sheikan colors, but it wasn't really Sheikan. It was sleeveless, low cut, had a section cut out that showed off her bellybutton and had ancient Hylian writing, not Sheikan. People would ask her where she got it and she would say she stole it from a Sheikah. That was a fat lie. First off the shirt wasn't even Sheikan and secondly Clairu had never even seen a Sheikah. She wondered what they looked like. They were supposed to have red eyes. Clairu herself had red eyes, it was a weird trait for the Gerudo who usually had orange to hazel eyes. "They aren't red," she would tell herself. "They're orange red." Besides that weird trait, every thing else was pretty normal. She had very long red hair that when free went all the way down to her knees. Now up in a ponytail like bun fastened by a gold and ruby piece, it went up to her waist. She wore Gerudo like attire too. Pink puffy pants and Arabic like shoes. She was decorated with a small gold and ruby belt, ruby ring, gold bracelets, a gold and ruby arm ornament, a matching choker necklace and interesting gold earrings.

"Hello, Clairu?"

"I'm not a Skeika." She repeated.

"Whoa, why do you need to get so angry about it? You act like they're demons or something. They're just people. How are they different from us? We both breathe, bleed, die, have children, and hate each other!"

Clairu stared at Giselle."That was some what poetic. Who are you and what have you done with Giselle? I guess your kinda right though."

"Yeah, but what can I do about it? I'm just a lazy 16 years old Gerudo girl who never does her job right."

* * *

Archery Corse

Clairu strung her bow and drew an arrow. Sitting on a buckskin, she tried to measure how much time she would have to draw each arrow.

"You ready Clairu?" Giselle looked up at Clairu.

"Ah. Yeah."

"Good." Giselle slapped the horse's rump. It leaped forward.

First, came the pots. She only had a stride between each target to draw, aim, and fire. It was like a rhythm. Draw, aim, fire, draw, aim, fire, draw, aim, fire, each one ending with a satisfying shatter. When the seven pots were all gone, she pivoted her horse, causing sand to fly up and galloped back. Then aiming for the bull's eye target, nailing each one with ease. Finally she halted in front of Giselle.

"Was that good?"

"Was that good? Do you have eyes! That was awesome! Thanks to you we won! Now, time to rub it in Jessie's face."

As Clairu climbed down from the horse, Giselle walked smugly to a cranky looking figurer leaning against the wall.

"Cough it up, Jessie!"

"Why?"

"You bet 20 rupees that you'll beat me and we won."

"You had Clairu on your team, without her you would have lost."

"So?"

"So, I said if _you_ beat me I'll give you 20 rupees. Clairu beat both of us, but I still beat _you_."

"What!"

As Giselle and Jessie argued Clairu took the horse back to the stables and went off to find Jennie. She found her at Giselle's post.

Clairu climbed up the high latter to the tower over looking the Haunted Waste land and sat next to the 50-year-old Gerudo.

The older Gerudo was at a higher command then her. She wore a white vested shirt and wight puffy pants. Her hair, red with a tint of silver was cut short.

"Hello Clairu." Jennie said without taking her eyes off the desert.

"He's gone, Jennie." Clairu said sadly

"The end of one is the beginning of another." When Clairu did not answer, Jennie sighed."Did you tell anyone else?"

"Giselle."

"Which means everyone will know by nightfall."

Clairu smiled at the thought but then frowned. "Why did you give Giselle the day off?"

Jennie sighed "I knew the Kings time was short and I thought Giselle would cheer you up. She has a funny way of doing that."

Clairu's smile returned "She does."

"Besides, no one ever comes through the Waste land. Why do you think this is Giselle's post?" Nobody went though the waste land because of it's frequent sand storms. The Gerudo, when having to travel through it to get to the temple they worshiped, never traveled alone, except for the one time when Clairu tried. It didn't work to well.

The two stared out into the desert, watching the sunset. "It's really pretty, the desert."

"Yes." Jennie agreed, watching the gold sand turn bright orange, then blood red. "But Clairu, don't you go out there alone and without water again. The desert is very dangerous. Actually I don't think you go at all."

"Sure." Clairu's eyes were glue to the scene before her. She swallowed thickly. If the desert was so dangerous, why did she have the feeling that it was calling for her. It told her to go there and not care if she ever came back.

* * *

The next day

The sweet sound of the ney cut through the dry desert air. Jennie sang alone. She sung a song about the great phoenix Multus, and how he was reborn every 100 years just like the Gerudo King.

Jennie has a nice voice. Clairu thought absently. She didn't dare say anything out loud. The rest of the Gerudo were also silent, gathered at the desert entrance. Some of the younger ones looked bored but most were expressionless. Jennie's voice rang oddly, almost ghostly. At the end of the song four Gerudo carried in, on a gold bed, their once great king, decorated with desert flowers and dried grass. Jennie held a torch. The flames made the shadows dance on her face.

"Goodby, King Kanon." Then she let the fire catch the dried grass and flowers. The King was soon hidden behind the roaring orange flames and smoke.

Eventually, the light that flickered over the Gerudos' expressionless faces, then died down, leaving only a pile of glowing ashes.

One by one the Gerudo took handfuls of ashes and let the desert wind blow them from their hands. Clairu took a handful and was about to let go, when she saw something. Her eyes became glued to the desert and her heart started to pound. It was a dark shadow like shape, almost like A..person.

"Clairu!" Giselle grabbed her shoulder. "Come on, your missing the party . . . thing!"

"Huh . . . party? You mean the Celebration of Rebirth?"

"Whatever, they have drinks all the way from . . . some country I've never heard of!" Clairu gave Giselle an odd look and Giselle grinned, then said "I bet I can beat you in a drinking contest!" She made a run for it.

"Hey!" but Giselle was already gone. Clairu groaned as she ran after Giselle.

Inside was crowded. Clairu sighed as she wondered how she was ever going to find Giselle, when a hand snuck up behind her and somebody yelled "BOO!" To Giselle's disappointment, Clairu didn't even flinch, let alone scream. She just gave Giselle an annoyed look.

"Oh look who's Miss grumpy pants today! This will make you feel better!" She shoved a glass of something into Clairu's hands."I have to warn you though, it's a tad strong." Giselle gave Clairu an expecting look as she drank her own glass.

Clairu sighed. "What's the point in drinking contests?"

"Clairu, Clairu, Clairu. What's the point of anything!" Giselle waved her empty glass in the air. "Or maybe your just saying that because your cucco." Giselle raised an eyebrow.

Clairu gave her a deadly look and drank the whole glass in one gulp.

_

* * *

_

_Later_

_Clairu decided to take a walk. She wouldn't go far, just to see what it was that lie in the desert. Jennie stopped her at the gate._

"_Don't go. It's too dangerous."_

" _I can take care of myself." Clairu continued to walk. Deeper in the desert she saw it now, it wasn't a person after all, but a stone hut and a pathetic one at that. It was only six and a half feet tall, with a spiral ramp to the top. Out of the door less, dark, entrance came a woman's voice, singing, calling to her to enter. She was almost there when . . . _

"_Stop." She turned around to see a giant talking owl just sitting in the sand._

"_Why?" She asked._

"_Great evils will be released."_

"_Evils?" She laughed._

"_Don't believe me?"_

"_Of course not!"_

"_But you believe your talking to an owl?"_

_She glared at and went inside the hut. She heard three things. There was a shill scream, a laugh, and a baby crying. _She awoke.

Her head hurt. _Weird dream. I wonder if the dream was important, or is trying to tell me something._ Clairu wondered. _Yeah, lay off the alcohol. _She didn't remember falling sleep. She must have past out and Jennie brought her to her bed. Maybe she should tell Jenni about her dream. _Nah._, _it's just a crazy dream_.

* * *

Two Months Later at Hyrule Castle Town Market

"Clairu, I want to go home and I'm hungry." Giselle complained.

"Ssh." Clairu watched the passerby glare at them with contempt. They were rather conspicuous standing in the market. They checked their pockets to make sure the Gerudo these hadn't taken anything. Clairu glared back at them.

"Oh, I have a great idea," Whispered Giselle. "Lets go rob the bakery! We can get one of those huge things of bread for lunch!"

"No."

"Oh come on Clairu! First you wake me up at six-"

"You're supposed to be up at five every day!"

"Whatever. Then you make us skip breakfast so we can go to Hyrule Market "early" and now you won't let us have lunch! I'm working on nothing here!"

"How much do you got?"

"How much do _you _got?"

"I got 50 or so in rupies, a nice gold watch, a rich lady's pearl necklace, and this ivory thing which I think is a bottle opener."

"Wow! All I've got is a green rupie that I found on the ground and somebody's smoking pipe."

"What have you been doing for the last six hours?"

"Staring at the bakery window and biting my lip to stay awake. Can we please get something to eat?"

"I want to hit John's Jewelry store first."

"Are you nuts? If you get caught stealing bread you'll only get fined, but if you get caught stealing gold or something they will cut off your hands!"

Clairu started to walk to the jewelry store.

"Hey, wait for me! What's with you and gold anyway? I mean you can't eat it and it doesn't keep you alive!"

Clairu ducked behind some hedges and Giselle followed. "Ok, your going to be the distraction."

"But I'm always the distraction!" Giselle complained.

"That's because that's the only thing you're good at!"

"At least I'm good at something."

"Now, you're going to take this and ask John if it's real gold." Clairu held up the gold watch.

"Of course it's real gold! Anyone can tell that by-"

Clairu glared at her and shoved Giselle's purple veil in her face. She put on her own blue one so that it would hide her features.

"What are _you_ going to do?" Giselle asked.

"Not get caught." Clairu winked at her.

They walked in together. John looked up from his glass counter. He had been polishing it like he did every hour. It was much better then anyone else's counter. Their's were made of _wood, _his was made of glass.

He narrowed his eyes at the two Gerudo. He knew he had watch these two. Gerudo came here often. They could be tricky, but they usually had good stuff to sell too.

"Ah, hi . . . um I was wondering if you could tell me if this was real gold?" Giselle pulled out the watch and held it up with her long, red nailed fingers.

John took it, examined it for a while then said "Yep."

"Yep what?"

"It's real gold."

"Oh, well -ow! - stupid bug."She squashed the bug on the counter.

"Don't hit the glass." John said in a low voice.

"Sorry. Oh no what? This reminds me of the most exciting story. See Jessie, our other sister, she said I couldn't hurt a bug if I tried, which is absurd 'cause I just smashed one right now! So she challenges me to this fight. I take my scimitars and I'm like Bang, Bang, and she's like bang, bang!" With every "Bang" Giselle smashed her fist into the glass.

"Don't hit the glass." John said with more venom in his voice.

"Sorry. Well anyway . . . " as Giselle continued on her pointless story, Clairu had slipped behind the counter and was now, shoving as many things as she could into her shoulder bag. She made no sound. Not even a clink of metal against metal. All those years or practices were paying off.

Bang! Bang!

"Stop hitting the glass!" John yelled.

"I'm sorry! Man, what's wrong with hitting the glass? Am I going to smudge your precious glass or something?" She said sarcastically.

John glared at her and pointed to a small crack that wasn't there before.

"Oh . . . if I hit the glass . . . it could break."

He knew what she was planing. She was going to try to break his counter so she could steal all the jewelry inside on display. She was trying to cover it up by acting stupid.

"Are you sure? This looks pretty hard to me." She began to pound on it again to prove her point.

"No!"

"Oh, so you're not sure," she continued to beat the crap out of it. John grabbed her hands and looked straight into her eyes.

"You know what I think? I think it's time for you and your friend to leave."

Clairu had returned to Giselle's side. "I'm so sorry! You see, she has . . . " She whispered the words. "Mental problems."

Giselle frowned at this, but played a long. "Clairu, isn't glass the hardest thing in the world?"

"Your thinking diamond, Gi"

"Oh mister, the counter isn't glass, it's diamond!" She pounded again to emphasize the word diamond.

John threw his arms up in the air and screamed "Get out!"

They ran. When they were outside Giselle asked "Do you really think I have mental problems?"

"Run faster!" They headed for the town stabiles to retrieve their horses.

John turned around to discover everything gone."Thieves!" He screamed and ran after them, but they were already gone. Cursing, he found the nearest solder.

"I've been robed."

"By who?" asked the solder, ready to help and be chivalrous.

"Two Gerudo."

"Gerudo," The solder said in a disgusted voice. "They shouldn't even be aloud in the market! What did they look like?"

"Well they had dark skin and red hair," John said trying to remember. " I think one had hazel eyes."

"That narrows it down to the whole Gerudo population!"

"Woo-hoo!" Giselle whooped. "We did it! He's an idiot and so, so stupid and we're not!" She sang on the back of her galloping horse.

They slowed the horses down once they were over the drawbridge and out in Hyrule Field. Clairu gave Giselle a weak smile. She was hunched over her horse's neck and there was sweat on her brow.

"You don't look to good."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. I bet it's from not eating all day."

"I'm fine." Clairu said in an annoyed tone.

"The King of Oogelynoish said he was fine and look what happened to him!"

"The King of what? Oh never mind! I'm fine, Ok?"

"You're seeing a healer."

"I'm _not _seeing a damn healer."

"Clairu, Clairu, Clairu, the lack of food has made you insane! We must see a healer before you shrivel up and die!"

Clairu rolled her eyes as Giselle's imagination got the better of her. Giselle talked for the rest of the way to the desert. Eventually getting Clairu to a healer, after stealing her necklace and threatening to hide it in the Haunted Wasteland.

* * *

The Healer was an older woman, probably in her 60s, with a do-what-I-tell-you-or-else expression on her face. She wore a white uniform that showed off her rank in power. Clairu glared at her. The Healer glared back. After a couple of minutes of glaring, the Healer sighed and brushed a hand through her bangs.

"Young people," she muttered. "Sit down."

Clairu sat down on the benched and continued her glaring.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm fine."

"Cramps?"

"I'm fine!"

The Healer stared at her, seeking for the problem in Clairu's face, finding it like magic.

"Cramps." She confirmed. Then she turned her piercing hazel eyes on Giselle. "You! Get out of here!" Giselle did not need to be told twice.

The Healer put a hand on Clairu's stomach and felt around. "I'm fine." Clairu muttered for the sixth time.

"Hmm . . . " the Healer said without listening. "When is the last time you had your period?"

"Why?" Clairu said flatly. The Healer raised an eyebrow at her.


	3. Chapter 2 Change

YES! It's finaly down! The chapters may start and end wird because I suck at chapter breakes. They don't have chapters in my mind. It keeps going and going. . .Also if you have any questions on thing that I didn't explain well just ask me and I may, MAY anserw them. Or I'll tell you to wait for the next chapter...i think that's it. Oh if this chapter seems long...i kind of forgot were to stop, so...yeah...

-Your ruler of the world

_Chapter 2_

_Change_

The healer dragged Clairu though the stone halls by her arm. They were going in a direction that Clairu had never been allowed before. They didn't stop till they encountered Jennie talking to another girl named Annika.

"Clairu? What are you doing here?"

"She's pregnant." said the healer flatly.

"Clairu! Why didn't you tell anyone you were chosen?"

Clairu mumbled something.

"What?"

"Because I didn't WANT to, ok! I don't want to be pregnant, sitting in a boring smelly room all day! Are you happy now?"

"Another young one." Annika sighed. She was about 30.

Clairu stuck out her tongue, only proving Annika's point. Realizing this she raised her head and pushed past Jennie and Annika. If she was going to have to hang out with the rest of he 'mood swinging, pickles and ice cream craving, pampered mothers to be,' then so be it, but that didn't mean she had to be happy. She came to a room filled with small beds. There were eight other girls there. Some were resting, some reading and others were just talking softly to each other. Clairu picked the bed against the wall, ignoring the others. She landed on the bed with a thud and glared at the wall like the whole thing was the wall's fault. Jennie found it best not to ask Clairu if that was the reason she was mad or if it was because she was _not_ chosen.

20 minutes later Clairu was still glaring at the wall when Giselle came in.

"Clairu!" Giselle had a bag with her and was accidently knocking beds with it.

"Oh, Din." Clairu muttered.

"Clairu! I heard! Oh why didn't tell me you were chosen!...You _were_ chosen right? You didn't run off with a man or something, right? Because-"

"No! Giselle, I did not, ok?"

"Oh, but some of the other girls are saying-"

"Giselle, I don't give a damn what the other girls say! I was chosen! By the King! With all the other girls that were chosen! I don't know what he saw in me, but apparently I'm worthy enough to be to be stuck here for nine moths!"

"Oh cheer up Clairu, being stuck here isn't that bad. You get extra food, extra water, extra sleep and do nothing all day!"

"I'm going to be bored out of my mind!"

"Hey, I got you something." She took out a big jar from her bag and shook it. "Pickles! I tried to get some ice cream too, but guess what? The desert doesn't have any! I found these in an old cellar. I'm not sure how old they are, but pickles are supposed to keep, right?"

"Oh thank you, Giselle." Clairu said in a way too sweet voice. She took the jar and looked at the flouting green things. "You know what? I know just where to put them. I'll SHOVE THEM UP YOUR-"

"Ok, ok, calm down! It was only a joke."

"I feel like I'm going to kill someone." She absently took out a pickle and started to munch on it. Giselle just stared at her. "EW! This thing's disgusting!"

"Then why are you eating it?"

Clairu eyes grew wide. "I don't know." She chucked the pickle on the ground.

Giselle picked up the pickle and wiggled in Clairu's face. "Clairu..." she said in a crackled voice. "Clairu, eat me... I'm juicy, crunchy, slimy, slightly dirty and WIGGLY!" She wiggled the pickle again, causing it to make a disgusting squishy noise. "I know you like Giselle's pickles. Eat me. I'm sour, I'm sweet, I'm-Ouch-stingy! Stupid paper cut. That's the last time I go near a book."

"Giselle, you don't read."

"The book isn't for me!" She took a big book out of her bag. "It's for you! Since your going to be bored out of you mind, I thought you would want to do a bit of reading!"

Clairu continued to glare at the wall.

"Oh come on Clairu!" She pushed the book toward her face, "Aren't you going to read it? It's about the noble Gerudo Narcressa who defeated the Great Sand Worm. "

Clairu did not answer.

"Fine, then I'll read it to you." She cracked opened the book. "Once upon a time, there was a Gerudo called Narcressa . . . Oh, this is the boring part." She flipped through several pages. "Ah, here we are! Then, the Sand Worm exploded from the ground! Narcressa threw her first dagger and hit the creature in the eye, blood spilling on the sand. But before Narcressa knew it she was being swallowed whole! Refusing to die she pulled out her last dagger and cut the thing's head off, she and guts spilled out!" Clairu would of been impressed with Giselle's newfound reading skills, had it not been that Giselle wasn't even looking at the pages. She was making the whole thing up. "After the killing of the Sand Worm, she decided to check up on her friend who said she was fine even though she was _not_ fine, and when she sent her friend to the healer, did she get any thanks? No! She got I'm-going-to-be-bored-as-hell-and-it's-all-your-fault attitude, and when she tried to give her friend gifts to make her feel better, did she get a thank you then? Nope. She was IGNORED!"

"Ok, ok. I get the picture, Giselle. I'm sorry. What do you want me to do about it?"

"I don't know. Laugh, smile, do something some what human! Goddesses! The Gerudo are so damn serious! I must be adopted or something!"

"You must be." Clairu said with a grin.

"Thank you!" Giselle looked out the window. It was about three in the afternoon. "Man, I have to be at my guarding post, even though nobody ever comes to the Gerudo's Fortress, but the Fortress has to be covered with guards armed to the teeth! Why? Because it's tradition! It's the Gerudo way!" Giselle started to head for the door.

"You go do whatever you do!"

"I don't _do_ anything!" She called over her shoulder.

Clairu heaved a sigh when Giselle was gone. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of the women move and make herself comfortable on one of the beds next to her.

"Hey."

"Hello?" Clairu said, not sure who she was and only looking at her with the corner of her eye.

"That girl," said the woman. "She must be a good friend."

"Giselle? She's a pain in the ass!" Clairu laughed.

The women shrugged "She's different."

"You could say that again."

"My name's Yazzman." For the first time, Clairu let herself have a good look at the women. She looked like she was in her 20s. She had hip length long red hair, which was unusually not in a ponytail, but let to hang loose. All except for a small section on the left side of her head that was pulled and held by a gold snake ornament. She seemed to like snakes, because she wore them all over the place. She had a gold snake choker, gold snake earrings, a gold snake arm ornament and two snakes on the buckle of her gold chain belt. Yazzman stared at Clairu with beautiful gold eyes, waiting for Clairu's reply.

"Clairu."

"Nice to meet you, Clairu." Yazzman said with a smile.

"You like snakes?"

"How could you tell?" Yazzman laughed. "Hey want to meet Ssisalrah?" She hissed. Out of her orange-strip-of-cloth-that-barely-qualified-as-a-shirt slithered out a black cobra with green eyes.Clairu was surprised that a snake could even fit in Yazzman's shirt and she was curious to know if it would bite her, but she was not afraid. Staring at the green eyes she asked "Is it poisonous?"

"Of course he's poisonous, all cobras are, but he won't bite. . .unless I want him to. You can pet him if you want. Here," Yazzman took Clairu's hand and placed it on the snake.

"Whoa..." Clairu said as she felt the smooth scales of the snake. It slithered up her arm, then back down again, sending a shiver down her spine. "I can't believe they let you bring him in here."

"Between you and me," Yazzman whispered. "He's not supposed to be, but I couldn't leave behind my precious little darling." Ssisalrah flicked his tongue and Yazzman did the same back to him. "Isn't that right, Baby?"

Ok, Yazzman was a little weird, but Clairu thought she was ok.

"So Clairu, what do you do?"

"Thievery."

"Ah, I see by your outfit."

"You?"

"Combat Artist"

"Really, your not wearing a red uniform." Clairu eyed her orange shirt and gold pants.

"I'm off duty."

"Oh yeah." Giselle never took off _her_ uniform. Was she missing Giselle? Of course not!

"Hey, have you heard? That Nohansen guy isn't letting Gerudo in the Hylian market after hours."

"What! Why!"

"Not only that, this is just a rumor but I heard he's going to ban the Gerudo period and claim Hyrule Field as his."

"Who does he think he is!"

"The King of Hyrule." She said matter-of-factly.

"Well he can't take the desert!"

"Yeah, a whole lot of sand and nothing." Yazzman said dryly.

"Cant we do something?"

"I wish we could, but we're in a sticky spot since we don't have a king, and the Elders never make a decision that actually makes a difference!"

Clairu stared out the window. "What ever does happen, I don't think it going to go well."

The green sea pounded on the worn wood of the ship. _The Destiny_ crashed though the waves with dignity. Her white sails outstretched in the wind. The gold neck curved elegantly. On the deck, the crew scrambled to and fro, trying to find anything to do help their princess who lay in her chambers, very ill. Beside her was her mother, father and the doctor. The young princess lay on the bed with a fever. Her pale blonde hair laid over her pillow like liquid sun. Her pale skin was hot as fired from her fever, like a white star. She squirmed in her sleep from s nightmarish dream, her forehead shiny with sweat.

Her parents were used to this. When she was born, the doctor said the poor girl had a bad immune system. She was always getting sick, and every time it seemed it get harder and harder for her to recover, but the country of Hyla promised the country of Hyrule that as early as possible their two heirs will marry and put the two countries at peace. Hyrule's only heir being a prince, and Hyla having only one princess, there was no choice but for her to be the one.

She screamed in her sleep and her mother took her hand with worried green eyes. "Zelda, hold on. We are almost there."

Princess Zelda open her eyes, which were a shocking pale blue. "Mommy . . . I feel . . . warm."

"Shh, save your strength," whispered the Queen and the doctor put a wet cloth on Zelda's forehead.

"I thought you said she was better!" demanded the King to the doctor.

"I did." The doctor said calmly. "It appears that she has caught something else. Maybe one of the sailors had a slight cold or fever with out knowing and the Princess somehow got it."

"When will she recover?"

"I don't know."

"Damn it! Why don't we just let her die!" He stomped away.

"Zelda, he doesn't mean it." The Queen said softly to her daughter. "He's just worried."

"I know, Mommy, but I think this is the worst."

"Land!" Someone on deck shouted.

The Queen put a hand to her heart and breathed, "Thank the Goddesses." She went up deck to go see.

"I dare you to smack Miss Smith on the butt." Will whispered, holding up a ruler.

"No!" Daphnes said as loud as he dared. He took the ruler from Will.

Miss Smith turned her back to the chalkboard. The two boys were taking notes. One, Prince Daphnes, was working wonderfully, his gray eyes concentrating on his paper. His brown hair was brushed neatly. Will on the other hand, his green eyes will fill with boredom, his red hair was messily over his eyes, and there was dirt over his freckled face. She sighed and turned her hooked nose back to the chalkboard and returned to her lecture.

When her back was turned Daphnes whispered "If I do it, she's just gonna blame you and you'll get into trouble."

"I don't care, I just want to see what she does."

"William!"

Will shot up from his chair and asked "Yes, Miss Smith?"

"William, I believe your talking is distracting Prince Daphnes."

"Yes, ma'am."

"If you continue to distract Prince Daphnes, you will be rremoved from being his companion."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And for now I think you should leave and let me finish with Prince Daphnes' lesson."

"Yes ma'am."

"This WON'T happen again, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now go."

"Yes, ma'am." He turned to Daphnes. "See ya later, Daphy." He walked away smartly, whistling a tune. The teacher turned back to the bored once again, and wile she wasn't looking Will made a face at her. Daphnes was the only one who saw and stifled a laugh.

"Daphnes,"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Have you been paying attention to any of the lesson today?"

"Um . . . yeah. Something about the Kokiri right?"

"And what about the Kokiri?" Asked the teacher testing to see if he really had been listening.

"What do you want to know?"

"Are the Kokiri real or are the myth?"

"Real?"

Ha. "Wrong! Daphnes, they are immortal children with fairy partners, for crying out loud! Do really think such things exist?"

"I guess not."

"You guessed right. The legend probably started when people found thing like pottery, tools and toys in the forest. You see, before we became civilized we lived in the forest. That's were those things came from. Now although most of the things fond are worthless there were some valuables." She pulled out a gold chain and dangling on that chain, about the size of Daphnes' fist was a huge green emerald. Daphnes watched it, almost hypnotized, as the emerald swung back and forth, gleaming in the light. "You know of the Goron's Ruby and the Zora's Sapphire?"

Daphnes nodded.

"Well some people think that the _Kokiri_ have one also, and this is some how a piece that broke off it. Also it is _supposed _to have'protecting powers'. It's all myth, but the emerald is valuable nonetheless. That's why it will be given to your fiancee when she arrives."

"What! I'm getting married!"

"Well, when you come of age, of course."

"But she's coming here, NOW?"

"Now's a good a time as any."

Daphnes sat there with a troubled look. He didn't even like girls yet and now he was supposed to meet the one he had to spend the rest of his life with. "How come nobody told me that she was coming here?"

"Your parents haven't told you?"

Daphnes shook his head.

"Well, they have been busy lately...oh never mind." She gave Daphnes the necklace. "Here. Now don't you lose it or your father will kill you." He nodded. "Now go! Your lessons are over."

He rushed out the door. Will was outside waiting for him, and they walked down the hall together. "So how were 'lessons'?"

"I'm getting married."

"WHAT!" He stopped and gaped at Daphnes. "You're only 12!"

"Ok, I'm not getting married until I'm of age, but my fiancee will be coming to this country any day now."

"Man, now we have to have some girl following us around . . . wait, this could be fun."

Daphnes recognized the scheming look in Will's eyes.

"Be nice to her, Will, if Miss Smith finds out you've done _anything _but breathe, she'll find a way to sell you into slavery or something. She hates you more the Gerudo!"

"Hate me?" Will flashed a charming smile. "Who can hate me? Race ya?" He started to run down the hall, Daphnes after him. They almost hit a serving girl, but she was missed by inches. Spinning out of the way she muttered an oath.

"How much did they take?" sighed King Nohanson.

"The whole thing!" John cried. "Enough to make an average man rich! With out it I will surely starve!" The man started to weep in his hands. The King wondered if he really was crying or just trying to make an impression. He sighed, for this was a real problem. John had to be paid back. That was what was stated in law, but who will pay John back? John, and so many others. . . well the thieves were _suppose _to pay the fine, but how could he make them pay the fine if they never could be caught! Somebody had to pay the fine! If nobody could pay, it usually meant the money would have to come from the Royal Family, but if the King did that for everybody, he would have to raise the taxes to a whole new level, which will start a revolt!

The Gerudo. How could these barbaric women keep escaping from him? He had to get rid of them, but how? They were already living in the desert outside of Hyrule so they were technically not citizens, and by this, they could weasel their way out of many laws. That, and the fact that they were never caught! They all looked the same. You couldn't tell which ones actually committed the crime. Then they would hide in there desert. If he sent anyone into the desert after them to look for the suspect, they will come back with arrows in their chest. Also, when the Gerudo were found they couldn't be arrested. They would ask "What crime?" and the soldier could give no answer. No one could accuse someone that they haven't seen them actually do. Clever girls, they were. The only proof that the Gerudos were thieves were a couple eyewitnesses and even then they didn't see there their faces, therefore they couldn't identify the right suspect. AHHH!

Now though, he had a plan. He was going to banish the whole race from his country, and if they ask their stupid "Why?" question, he could just say "Because!" HAHA! How good that would feel. . . .If they want to start a war on it, so be it. Like they could do anything, anyway. They were uneducated barbaric thieves, wile he had an educated well trained army. Also if he heard right, their king had recently died too. They were defenseless! Perfect!

The king woke up from his thoughts and realized John was still there. "Oh, your excused."

"But, but Your Majesty, my stock?"

"Oh that, . . . um, we will pay you as much as we can afford. Also I can promise you that this problem will not happen again!"

John left grumbling, knowing he wasn't going to get his whole stock paid for.

The King sat pleasantly on his throne, until he spotted his son peering in from one of the halls. A hand grabbed the boy's shoulder and pulled him away.

"Daphnes?" He heard a muffled "crap." and two boys reluctantly walked into the room. The King stood up. "Daphnes! My boy! Come over here!" Leaving Will, Daphnes slowly made his way to his father. "I see you were watching your old man run a country!"

Daphnes nodded. "But Father, why didn't you just pay the man back? You sounded like we don't have any money at all."

"Well I can't just keep giving _our_ money away."

"But it's not _our_ money, it comes from taxes. It's the people's money."

"HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! Oh my son!" he said patting his son on the head. He was interrupted to his relief as a shrill voice rang out.

"Oh! My dear husband!" Queen Maria came rushing in with her long gown flowing behind her. "Oh and Daphnes too! This concerns you as well." She put a hand on both of them and gave them loving looks, until she noticed Will. "You. . . orphan boy . . .Shoo!"

Will shrugged his shoulders and left. Daphnes bit his lip at the depart of his friend.

"Now, a ship had arrive at our northen shore yesterday. The Princess has just made it to the castle minutes ago."

"They're here?" The King said, more excited then his son.

"Yes, and we must meet them most graciously! Daphnes, do you have the necklace?" Daphnes nodded. The Queen frowned and licked her finger, using it to clean Daphnes' face. "Ok, let us go." The King and Queen walked side by side while Daphnes sulkily followed.

A manservant suddenly stopped them in the hall and knelt before the King. "Your Majesty, there seems to be . . .a problem. The Princess . . . she seems to be ill."

"WHAT!" The King charged past him to a mass of people rushing about and headed to a man in white who no doubt must be the doctor.

"Nohanson, darling, slow down!" The Queen rushed after him and Daphnes followed curiously.

"You, doctor! What's wrong!"

"Excuse me. . . you mean the Princess?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Well, um-"

"I was _promised _thatmy dear son would marry a lovely young women, and how can she be lovely if she's ill! Or dead! Is it contagious!"

"Well, yes, kind of-"

"It's contagious?" Queen Maria screamed. "We're under a plague!" Her screeches could probably be heard back in Hyla.

"No! No! My Lady, please calm down. It's only a cold and a fever, not the plague. But the Princess has a bad immune system and can't fight off the disease like a normal person." The doctor said calmly.

"Well this is a problem, a dilemma, unholy mess, sticky wicket, nuisance, bad news, complication, difficulty, distress, calamity . . ." With every new word he thought of his voice got louder and louder. In no time it reach the ears of the Princess's father. He angrily stepped in front of the other king and stabbed his finger into his fat chest.

"My daughter had to go though _Hell_ to get here and doesn't need this crap!"

The two kings engaged into a heated argument. Wile they were fighting, Daphnes saw two men carrying a small girl with white blond hair. One of the servants were leading them to the hospital wing. Assuming this was the Princess, Daphnes' curiosity got the better of him and went after them.

The only one who noticed was his mother, who barely said, "Wait Daphnes. She could be contagious!" before he turned the corner.

The hospital room was left open in the men's haste, so Daphnes slipped in. One of the men asked "Hey, kid! Who are you? Are yo supposed to be in here?"

"The servant answered "That is Prince Daphnes, son of King Nohanson." The question if he was supposed to be there was forgotten.

Daphnes' concentration was on the girl. She was breathing heavily, her skin was damp with sweat and her hair spilled around her shimmering. He remembered the necklace and pulled it out of his shirt. He was about to place on her chest, when her eyes opened. Daphnes had never seen such a color, they were paler then the sky on a foggy day.

"Who . . . are you?" The girl asked softly.

"Ah, um . . . this is for you!" he gave her the necklace and ran away.

"It was weird," Daphnes said as he threw the small rubber ball back to Will. They were in one of the Royal Gardens.

"Why? Is she like possessed or something?" He threw the ball back.

"No, she's just . . . sick."

"Is she gonna die?"

"I don't know, but I don't want her to." Daphnes threw the ball again.

"Ooh," Will said as he caught the ball. "Is Prince Daphnes becoming attached to our young Princess?"

"Huh-uh!"

"Daphnes and Zelda sitting in a tree, K-I- S-S-"

"Hey! What about Rosie?"

Will gave a blank look for about a second then caught himself. He started to laugh, "Rosie _hates _me! She hates my guts more then Miss Smith!"

"Well that might be because you filled her bed with mud. How did you do that anyway?"

Will laughed harder at the memory and pointed to himself. "My secret!" He manage to say in between his laughter. "You should have been there, she looked like a half moon cookie and her hair was sticking up. She hit me so hard that I had a black eye for two weeks! Man, she's got a good arm . . . for a girl anyway."

Daphnes grinned at his friend who obviously had a crush on the young maid. "What's that stupid look for?" Will chucked the ball at Daphnes' head, making him laugh. This made Will madder so he tackled him. The two wrestled on the ground for awhile until Will got Daphnes in a headlock.

"Say uncle!"

"Never."

"Say uncle!"

"No!"

"Ahem." They both looked up to see a perfectly better princess.

"Get off!" Daphnes pushed Will off him and stood up. "Princess! You're better!"

"Yes, thank you." She curtsied, "Hello Prince of Hyrule." Then she curtsied again to Will. "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."

Will was amazed that a _Princess_ had curtsied to _him_. "Well, I'm," he began dramatically, "William the 3rd , son of the Duke of . . .um . . . Bumblebee . . . Kingdom."

Daphnes hit him. "That's Will."

Zelda smiled. "Hello, Will."

"How did you know we were here?"

"Queen Maria told me that you will be here. She wants us to 'bond.'"

"Oh," Will said. "I'll just go, then."

"You may stay with us, Will. I'm sure we will enjoy your company."

"That's ok, Princess. I have that . . . thing."

Daphnes gave Will a "what thing?" look.

"Well, bye!"he said, a little too perky, and then he left.

There was a long pause, then Zelda sighed. "I suppose we are to be married."

"I guess."

"Since we are, I think we should be friends. It wouldn't be any good if we were enemies and we were husband and wife."

"Um . . . ok."

She offered him her hand. "I'm Zelda, or you can call me Zel or Z. Anything you like. EXCEPT Princess."

"Well, my name is Daphnes and you can call me Daphy or Daph."

Zelda laughed. "Daph, it sounds like the word daft which means fool."

"Oh, . . . I guess I never thought of it that way."

Zelda laughed again. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," He said stupidly.

"Well, what do you usually do when you have free time?"

"I usually find Will, and go do something with him."

"Then let's go find Will then!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the direction that Will went. For some strange reason he didn't want to see Will. He didn't want to share Zelda with him. It didn't make any sense. He was about to protest when he saw that Zelda was wearing the necklace he gave her. And for the same unknown reason it made him feel giddy. He let himself be led away.

Will was sitting next to the moat that surrounded the castle, feeding a stay dog a bit of his sandwich. "Stupid Daphnes," he said to the dog since there was no one else to talk to. "His girlfriend is just given to him, when I have to work for mine! I mean, the only girl I kinda ever liked hates me and now that the Princess is here, Daphnes is going to want to hang out with _her_ instead of me. NOW I'm talking to a dumb dog! I hope your happy, that sandwich was my lunch. I don't get another one. You don't know any girl dogs do you? That's why your alone. No family, no friends, nobody loves you." The dog licked his hand. "Hey, I don't got a family ether."

Suddenly the dog ran away as someone approached Will from behind. He jumped up and said in a rush, "Itwasn'tmeMissSmith,Iswear!" It wasn't Miss Smith, but Daphnes and Zelda.

"Would you like to play with us?" asked Zelda

"Yeah, were bored."

"Bored, huh?" Will said with a grin. "Well, we'll have to remedy that, won't we?" He looked at Zelda. "Have you ever heard of the game 'Save the Princess'?"

"Muhaha! Now I've got you!" Will pressed the stick against Zelda's neck like a dagger."Oh, no!" Zelda cried. "Someone, save me!" Will put her in the "dungeon." "You won't get away with this!" Zelda added.

"But I will!" Will said, evilly. "Once I get rid of Daphnes, you will become my wife and together, we will rule the world! Mwahahahaha!"

"Oh, no!"

"Don't worry, Princess, I'll save you!" Daphnes said dramatically. He hummed a heroic tune.

"Oh no, you don't! Draw your sword!" They both held up their sticks and started a mock sword fight. Each time the sticks met, bits of bark would fly into the air, until Daphnes stuck his stick under Will's arm.

"Oh, you got me!" He staggered backwards "AHHHHhhewww!" It was the weirdest sound they ever heard and Daphnes and Zelda laughed. "Curse you Daphnes! My limbs are going numb, my vision black! My . . . conscience . . .fading." He coughed. "I'm dead." and added a leg twitch for good measures.

Daphnes, in his laughter stumble backwards and fell into the moat . . .he couldn't swim.

Zelda screamed, and Will shot up.

"Will!" Daphnes cried out. He coughed and spluttered as he tried to stay afloat. His head disappeared under the surface. Zelda kneeled at the edge of the moat, trying to see through the murky water.

Will didn't even bother taking off his shoes; he dove right into the water after his friend. He swam as fast as he could through the water, searching for Daphnes.

The breath he had taken before diving in was quickly fading. He had to go back to the surface. But he couldn't leave Daphnes to drown...

There! Will almost laughed with relief. He grabbed Daphnes and began dragging him to the surface. Daphnes wasn't breathing. He'd swallowed too much water and fallen unconscious. Idiot.

Will shoved Daphnes ahead of him, so that he broke the surface before Will did.

Zelda grabbed Daphnes' arms and dragged him onto the ground. She put her hand in front of his mouth. "He's not breathing!" she wailed. "He's going to die!"

Will took no notice of the sobbing princess. He pulled himself over the steep side of the moat and scrambled toward Daphnes. "Move." He shoved Zelda out of the way and rested his hand on Daphnes' chest. Steadily Will pushed on his chest. Water trickled out of the prince's mouth.

Finally Daphnes coughed, sitting up and gasping for breath.

"He's alive!" Zelda whispered, looking at Will gratefully.

Will sagged backward in relief, resting his hands on his knees. Suddenly he heard the unholy, inhuman scream.

"WILLIAM!"

Great. Miss Smith came stomping over and almost fainted when she saw Daphnes dripping wet. "Heavens to Betsy! The Prince will catch pneumonia! Your in big trouble boy!" She wagged a finger at Will.

"What! Me!"

Miss Smith ignored him. "Come on Prince Daphnes, let's get you into some dry clothes."

Miss Smith presented the three children to the King. Daphnes in dry cloths, but Will was still soaked to the skin. (Nobody bother to give _him_ cloths.) Miss Smith made a distastefulface at the puddles he made on the marble floor.

"What is the meaning of this!" That was the King's favorite line to say. He didn't really want to know the meaning of this, but he was in a good mood today, now that the Princess's health had improved, so he decided to humor Miss Smith.

"I fond the Prince dripping wet by the moat because he was with the orphan boy instead of in the garden like a civilized child. William is a bad influence! He let the Prince fall into the moat, he-"

"If it was my son who fell in, why is it that the orphan boy is wet?"

Princess Zelda curtseyed, "If you excuse me your Majesty, but Will saved your son from drowning, he should be rewarded, not punished."

"Ahem," Miss Smith interrupted, "but I believe the Princess has had too much trauma for one day. She should have a nap to settle the nerves."

"Ah, yes." The King turned to one of his servants. "Would you please escort Princess Zelda to her sleeping chambers."

Zelda glared at Miss Smith as she was led away and then gave a last pleading look at the two boys before she was gone.

"Now, I want to here the story from my son."

Daphnes was taken aback. He never would of expected, that his father would let him tell the story. He lost his voice for a second. ". . . Well, Zelda and me were playing with Will-"

"Ha! See if William wasn't here, this whole thing wouldn't of happen!" Everyone stared at Miss Smith after her out break. It seemed Miss Smith had gone mad from hatred for Will. "Sorry. . . continue."

Daphnes heard Will give a tired sigh. "And I fell in the moat. Then Will saved me."

"Why in Hyrule were you playing near the moat?"

"They followed me there!" Will suddenly blurted out. "He fell in laughing at me! It's my fault, ok! But he's not dead! I fixed it! And now I'm tired, I'm cold and I'm wet! Can we get this over with?"

The King laughed, "I am sorry orphan boy, but Daphnes you should know better. I believe that the orphan boy is distracting you from your duties and no longer needed. It is time for you to grow up, Daphnes. Will, will be sent to the stables. There he'll be sheltered, fed and _paid_ for any labor he does there." It was a good deal when you thought about it. It would insure Will's well being for life. Most orphan boys lived on the streets and starve. It would also give Daphnes time to become the King he was supposed to be, and it would keep Miss Smith away from Will which would be good for everybody.

"Now I think it will be best if Will leaves as soon as possible. Your excused for I have a lot of work to do." Miss Smith led the two boys away.

"Well you two better say goodby." she said a little too happily.

"Already?"

"The King said "soon as possible" NOW is possible!" She glared daggers at Will and he step back with a gasp.

"Guess this is goodby then." said Will. Daphnes looked like he was going to cry but no tears fell from his eyes. Will held out his hand as if for a hand shake but Daphnes ignored it and gave him a hug. When he was done Will said, "you come down to the stables sometime, ok? Think of all the trouble we could get in there."

"Will, you will always be my best friend, no matter what."

Will smiled. "Well ain't I lucky?"

"Mr. Jones!" Miss Smith hammered on the door with one hand, the other tightly holding onto Will's shoulder. "Mr._ Jones!_"

The door suddenly flew open and an ancient man, with one eye slightly bigger then the other, peered at them. "Eh!"

"Mr. Jones, this is the orphan boy you were told about."

"Huh? Oh yeah, Max!"

"Will." Will corrected.

"Oh yeah, sorry 'bout that Dill. Come on in!" He lead Will in and nodded a goodby to Miss Smith. "Now, . . . why're you wet? They trying to shrink ya? Don't they know we need big boys! Not shrinked ones!" He grumbled as he search his one room house for dry cloths. The ones he found were several sizes to big. He gave them to Will along with a piece of paper. "That's yer chores. When yer down, I'll make us some pea soup! How does that sound?"

Will looked at the list. " Feed the stalls and clean out the cows? What?"

"HEH HEH ! Both ends toughs cows too!" He burst out in laughter.

Will went to the barn slightly disturbed. He sighed. Great. He was stuck with a crazy old guy! He sat down on a bucket.

"Hello Will."

"Huh?" Rosie peered over one of the stall doors. "Rosie! What are you doing here?"

She brushed back a lock of red hair. "I always feed the horses sugar at night. Why are you hear?"

"Well, you can just call me 'Will, the stable boy'"

"Stable boy, huh? What did you do this time to deserve that?"

"Saved the Prince's life." he said casually.

"You and your lies." Rosie sighed.

"Don't believe me? Ask the Prince himself."

"Maybe I will! Well, I have to go before me father starts worrying about where I am. See you around, _stable boy_." She left.

"See you around." Will whispered after her. Maybe being a stable boy wasn't _so_ bad.

Nine months! Nine! Still the thing hadn't come out. Clairu glared at her swollen belly. "I hope your happy! Thanks to your existence, your mother is going crazy!" She sighed. "Like it can here what I'm saying." She couldn't do anything, sword fighting, horseback riding, go into Hyrule Market . . .actually the last one was because King Nohanson banned the Gerudo to the market recently, which sucked. The Elders were still discussing what to do next. She glared at the wall. She had glared at the same wall so many times that she could tell you every bump, every crack, every crevice! She had endured the pains, mood swings and cravens, but still nothing!

She heard the commotion of excited Gerudo as another women, that was _not_ her, went into labor. The King still hadn't been born yet. She got up. She needed a walk.

She took a deep breath once she was outside. Wait, what was that sound? Someone was singing. First she thought it was Jennie, but this was different, creeper, and yet she wanted to follow it. She fond a scimitar resting against the wall. It was probably Jessie's. She'll just borrow it. Serves Jessie right anyway, for leaving there unprotected. It was a nice one.

The music was coming from the Wasteland. There was no guard there, maybe she wanted to see who the new baby was. She suddenly felt sick. Was that . . . was that a contraction? No, it was just her imagination, another false alarm, but maybe she should go back anyway. No, she had to find out who was singing out in the Haunted Wasteland. She couldn't see anyone, it was eating her up inside. But curiosity kills the cat. She was a dead cat. She walked barefooted, out of the gate, and into the Haunted Wasteland.

"Oh, I need a break." The old hag took a drink from her water skin.

"You cheated!" accused her sister.

"How?"

"You enchanted your voice to make it sound younger and lovelier!"

"Of course I enchanted my voice! How would the spell work if I didn't enchant my voice? How would it work?" She gave her sister a so _there_ look, but then added softly "But that is how it really sounds."

"No it doesn't!"

"You just jealous because I'm younger then you."

"You are not, we're _twins!_"

"Well, you were born first!"

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"Wait! Do you hear that sound? Do you think the spell is working?"

"Of corse it's working! It's _my_ spell. . .but I still don't see why we can't we just go back to the-"

"We can't go back to the Fortress! Were banished, remember? They see are magic as curses, witchcraft! They treat us like witches instead of the queens we are!"

"Oh that reminds me of King Kanan! Remember when he was little?" She cradle her arms, "I want another son!" she wailed.

"Yes, I know Koume, that's why we're bringing the mother here. We already know she will die in childbirth, and when she does, we'll have an orphaned king that we can raise to redeem are selves!"

"Oh yes!"

"Shh, someone's outside."

The wind blew Clairu's skirt around her ankles. She should go back, but the sand was in the wind and she couldn't see anything. She _really_ wasn't feeling good. She was by the hut. Her only shelter. Inside was just a hole with a ladder. There were people down there, she could hear them. She looked down the ladder. She didn't like the idea of climbing down. She felt another contraction. She was pretty sure she was going into labor now. You know, that couldn't of happen when she was _not_ doing anything! She was nervous though. She didn't know what to do, she never went into labor before! She started to panic. Maybe the people down there would help her, maybe they were nice. Nice people, alone, in the middle of the Haunted Wasteland during a sandstorm? I don't think so. But they would probably hear her up here anyway. So she awkwardly climb down the ladder.

There were two old hags. Their eyes bugged, their noses big and hooked, their shin tinged green. They wore black dresses and one had a hat that looked like it was made of fire and the other ice. The witches Koume and Kotake.

"Hello my dear." said Koume.

Clairu glared at them. "Aren't you two banished or something?"

"Hey, there was no proof that we killed that girl!" Koume shouted out.

"You did what?"

Kotake hit Koume over the head with her broom. "Shut up! You imbecile!" She turned back to Clairu. "Now, child you look tired. We've been waiting for you. Let us help you."

Clairu pointed the scimitar at them. "Take one step and both of you are dead."

"We are simply fortune tellers. We can see the future, but only at times . . .important times. And Koume here, just had a vision about you."

"Hrm,"

"Well there was good news and bad news. The good news is that the child inside you will be the new king."

"You have to be kidding me right?"

"Oh no, we don't do 'kidding'."

"Ok, I know the good news, what's the bad news?"

"You will die in childbirth."

Clairu's smile faded and another contraction happened. Die now? It was so soon. And in childbirth, how lame. She wasn't afraid though, Gerudo weren't allowed to be afraid. But what would she do with the baby? She'd never would want to leave him with these two, but what choice did she have? They were alone in a sandstorm.

"Let us take care of the child. We have raised kings before. Don't let a little grudge go against your better judgement for your son." said Koume.

Clairu leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. She knew it was coming. Still holding her scimitar threateningly she said, "If I die, you can take care of my son, but if you harm or wrong him in anyway, my spirt will put a curse on you so terrible that you'd wish you died young." She cringed in pain as her water broke. Kotake rushed over to her and held her hand.

"Don't worry it will be over soon." Clairu waited for the pain to stop.

Jennie went into a frenzy looking for Clairu. She got the whole Gerudo Fortress worked up. She almost had a heart attack when she heard that for five minutes, there was no guard at the west gate.

"Two people are coming from the Wasteland!" cried the new guard. All the Gerudo, even a very pregnant Yazzman, grabbed their weapons and headed for the gate. It was the two witches. One of them was carrying something.

"What are you two doing here!" demanded Jennie.

"We come with news. Please believe us and forget about the little accident we had." said Kotake.

"How do we know your not lying?"

"Take my sister, if we are wrong, you may kill her."

"What?" Koume stared at her sister horrified.

"We are sorry to say that a Gerudo girl has died." Kotake said ignoring Koume.

"Clairu!" Giselle cried. "You killed her didn't you! You murderers!" Giselle lunged at them but Jessie held her back.

"We didn't kill her!" shrieked Koume, "She died in childbirth!"

"She died," continue Kotake, with a quick glare to Koume. "giving birth to your king!" She held up the baby boy. Some of the Gerudo gasped, some bowed, Jennie felt a sick feeling as she realized that their helpless king was in the hands of a witch.

"What do you want?" she asked warily.

"Only peace. The girl asked us to take care of him for her. If you don't believe us, her body is in the hut out in the desert. We could not bring her here for we are old and not strong enough."

The healer was sent with Kotake to inspect the girl's body to make sure she _did _die in childbirth and then bring back the body for cremating. Koume was held prisoner till they return and Jennie was giving the baby. He was a good looking boy. Red orange Gerudo eyes.

Jennie bit her lip when they brought Clairu back. The witches were right. Poor, Clairu. She was so young. She hated when the young died. Giselle seem to take it the hardest, but she didn't cry. Gerudo never cry.

Jennie sighed. Should she let the witches raise the king? They raised the last king well. It was just the accident with the girl last year that made her uneasy. What if they didn't do it? You couldn't tell with magic. Din, she hated magic. But the witches were well educated and they needed an educated king.

"Fine you two, but there will be the _best_ guards around him 24 seven. Only the best!"

"But of course." agreed Kotake.

"Yazzman, I know not now, but when your done with the baby, I want you to be the kings number one bodyguard."

"Sure thing, Mam." Yazzman sais with a smile. Then she whispered to Giselle, "Help me watch over the kid. Make sure these freaks don't corrupt him or anything." Giselle nodded.

Jennie sighed again and gave the baby back to Kotake. "What's his name?"

Koume thought for a second, then said, "Ganondorf."


	4. Chapter 3 Ignorance and Innocents

AN: YES! ITWORKED! . . .this chapter is like freaken long amd it didn't take me as long to wright. Sorry if that bothers you. (Like it does to SOME peopleCOUGH AMANDA COUGH)Resons:I stopped wrighting them out first, not only was that time consuming but It took up to much of my energy and I got a habit of making my sentences shorter, but not ant more! I'm going straight to typing!Wrighting this chapter, I fond that i have a strange sence of humer. I was laughing hystercly, and not just the funny parts. I don't know. Reveiw me! or die!

-- the weird girl with the cap

Chapter 3

Ignorance and Innocents

"_Ahkoma, allako, naleko,"_ Koume recited.

Ganondorf carefully wrote the words down in beautiful calligraphy, with a skill that belied the age of eight. The window shone a band of light onto his paper, the dust from the sand outside dancing in the air. Shouts could be heard outside as the girls his age played a game with a ball. He let his red orange eyes leave the paper and out the window. He liked to watch the girls move and hear them shout. The one with the ball seemed to be getting the most attention, bouncing the ball on her knees.

"Hey Nabooru, pass the ball already." The girl smiled and passed the ball to someone else. She looked up and he caught her hazel gold eyes in his.

"Ganondorf!" He was smacked hard in the head with a ruler. "You missed two whole sentences! You know how dangerous that is in a spell! Do you want to die?"

"No. I'm sorry, Kotake," he said in his low monotone voice.

"Think about all the time you've just wasted! How are you ever going to learn anything!" While Kotake ranted, Koume secretly showed Ganondorf the last two sentences. "Let me tell you what you missed." She looked down at the paper. "Oh, it appears I'm mistaken. In that case, were done early! You have a half of an hour before sword practice, so go and get ready." Ganondorf hesitated, surprised that he'd gotten away. "NOW!" Ganondorf scrambled off his chair and out the door.

He ran to his room and ducked his head under his bed. Pulling out a dull cloak he smiled. It was an invisible cloak that he "borrowed" from Kotake and Koume. They never use it anyway. He figured that since he had a half hour, a quick trip to the Haunted Wasteland wouldn't hurt. He grabbed his scimitar and headed for the stables, were he grabbed a small bag of oats. Using the cloak, he snuck past the guards and into the wasteland. When he was out of sight, he took off the cloak and headed toward an oasis. If what he was looking for was anywhere, it would be there.

Sure enough, it was there. Still as a statue, standing knee deep in water, was a beautiful black colt. He was big, real big, too big to be a true desert horse. Probably a descendant of a war horse gone wild, and he was still growing! Still growing. Scars were painted across his chest and back from predators that had failed to capture their prey. His long forelock half covered wild eyes as the colt drank deeply. His ears twitched toward Ganondorf but he didn't bolt. This boy watched him often. Soon he will leave something tasty for him to eat.

Ganondorf had been visiting the colt since it was a newborn foal. He had grown quite attached to it and been giving it food. If any of the others found out he had been taking food from the stables, he'd be in trouble, for food was hard to come by. But he couldn't bear the thought of the beautiful black horse starving out in the barren desert.

He usually just left the food on the sand and left, but this time he wanted to see if the colt would take some from his hand. He jingled the bag and the horse lifted his head at the sound, water dripping from his mouth.

"Shadow," he called out softly, for that was what he had named the colt, but never called him that before, so he wasn't sure it would work. "I've got yummy food." The horse snorted at the air, smelling the oats. He took one step forward. Ganondorf stood patiently, pointing the opening of the bag towards the horse's nose. The colt took a few more steps and stuck his nose in the bag. Ganondorf smiled as he felt the horse's lips wiggle within the bag.

Suddenly the wild horse ripped his nose out of the bag, causing the bag to fall to the ground, and gave a scream that sent Ganondorf to his knees. He felt for sure he would die as the horse rose to his full height, but the horse twisted in the air and galloped away. He looked around to see what had startled the horse and saw a person walking back toward the gate, carrying a heavy sack. The person looked in his direction and he stuffed the now empty oat bag in his shirt.

"Ganondorf! Get your ass over here, before I hurt you!" Ganondorf sighed with relief and ran over to Giselle. She wouldn't tell anyone what he was doing. "What the hell were you thinking! Going up to a wild horse like it was some old circus pony!"

"I won't do it again, I promise." He knew Giselle wouldn't, couldn't stay mad at him. "What's in the sack?"

"Wouldn't _you _like to know. It's a surprise. Come with me inside and I'll show you." She heaved it over to the inside of the Fortress with Ganondorf following. It sure looked heavy. Maybe it was some kind of meat. He was always hungry and the Gerudo had a tough time satisfying this. "He's gonna be real big though," Giselle would always say. They went to a room that really had no purpose but to keep the sand that got tracked in out of the other rooms.

Giselle dropped the bag down and stretched out her back. "Man, that was heavy."

"So what's in the bag?"

"Can you EVER be patient!" She undid the sack and pushed it over, spilling golden sand onto the floor.

Ganondorf stared at the sand disappointedly. "Giselle, it's sand. We have that outside."

"Kid, you got to look at it differently." She spread the sand so it lay flat and smooth on the floor, then she sat down and motioned Ganondorf to do the same. She used her thumb and bent her forefinger, dragging it through the sand. She drew a beak, a head and two huge wings. "See, now it's an eagle."

"Wow, how'd you do that?"

"Practice. Come on, draw with me." They spent some time playing with the sand, drawing pictures, laughing, then wiping them away. Their fun soon ended though as Yazzman exploded into the room.

"Ganondorf!" she exclaimed, relief evident in her voice, but then her expression darkened. "Giselle! What the– . . . Never mind, Ganondorf you never came to sword practice!"

Ganondorf's face fell. "Oops."

"You had WHAT!" Giselle glared at Ganondorf.

"I forgot." he said meekly.

"Well it's too late to start anything now." Yazzman sighed. "Hey what _are_ you doing anyway?"

"Art!"

"It looks like a mess to me." She sat down next to Ganondorf. "Hey who did the eagle?"

"Giselle did." Ganondorf answered. "Isn't she good?"

"Yeah. . . what's this?" Yazzman pointed to one of Ganondorf's stick figures.

Ganondorf laughed, "That's me," Then he pointed to the others "and that's you, and that's Giselle, and that's Jennie, and that's Kotake, and that's Koume." Yazzman laughed at the images of Koume and Kotake. They looked like pumpkins with tails growing out of their faces. "Do you want to draw with us?"

"Maybe . . .Wait, no! What if Koume and Kotake find out!"

"You won't tell Koume and Kotake about this, will you, Yazzman?" Ganondorf looked pleadingly at Yazzman.

"Of course not! Do you know what kind of trouble I'd get into?"

"Well everyone in this room must solemnly swear if they are asked, that Ganondorf had sword practice today." Giselle said, holding up her hand.

"Agreed," they all swore in unison.

"So, how was Ganondorf's sword practice?" Giselle asked Yazzman.

"Fine, his arms are a little skinny though."

"Hey!"

Yazzman laughed. "You've got to build them up a little."

They sat there in silent companionship for awhile until Ganondorf spoke up, "Yazzman? Your daughter's name is . . . Nabooru, right?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I saw her today."

"She wasn't doing anything she shouldn't have, was she? 'Cause I'll whip her hide so bad that–"

"No, No. Nothing like that. I just . . . I don't know, wanted to know who your daughter was, that's all."

"Well, maybe I can get you two to meet . . . if I can get her to sit still for a minute and get you away from Koume and Kotake at the same time. Speaking of which, you better get going before Koume and Kotake start looking for ya." Ganondorf nodded and started to go. "Oh, and run so you sweat. You've been at sword practice, remember?"

Ganondorf gave both Giselle and Yazzman a smile before dashing away.

Daniel wrapped the blanket tighter around his old father. The old man was too weak to move. His face was wrinkled, and his eyes were tortured with horrors of years past.

"Thank you, Daniel. You're a good cupcake."

Because of the horrors of years past, he had gone a bit crazy. Daniel smiled.

"You're welcome."

In a few seconds, the man's eyelids drooped, then fell shut. His breathing became slow and methodical. Daniel kissed his father's forehead and left him leaning against the wall of the house on the street. Maybe he could find some money, food or anything for his father. But there was nothing. People didn't give away things for free and usually didn't come to this side of town were people ate garbage and lived in the streets. If you were lucky to have a house, it was a pretty pathetic one with one room, falling apart, filled with bugs, but he wasn't even _that _lucky.

He closed his eyes and threw out his arms, feeling the cool air on his arms and face.

Suddenly he felt two arms wrap around his waist. He looked down and stared into the deep blue eyes of Melissa.

"Hi." He kissed the top of her nose.

"Do you know what's been going on?" she asked, no trace of a smile on her lips.

"What?"

"They're going to storm the Gerudo Fortress!"

"They as in . . . who?"

"Steve and some of the others. He just went crazy. He's been so devastated since his little brother died of the flu a few days ago. He says that it's the Gerudo's fault that we've lost all our money. You'll talk him out of it, won't you? They'll all die."

"I can try. Were is he now?"

She pointed in the direction of the castle. Daniel sighed.

"Why's he over there?"

"Who knows? He's been pretty upset. Who has any idea what goes on in his mind?"

"Well, thanks, Liss." He walked off in the direction of the castle. Steve was standing outside. Next to him were some of their guards. Daniel hurried over to them and grabbed Steve's arm.

"Hey, Danny-boy!" The rancid scent of alcohol almost made him gag. Ever since he'd lost his brother, Steve had been hanging out with the guards a lot more. Daniel pulled him away from them.

"C'mon, Steve, let's go . . ."

"What're you doing over here, anyway? Wanna join us? We're gonna storm the Gerudos, the nasty barbarians--"

"You've been drinking. Were did you get alcohol from?"

He vaguely waved to the guards who were pointing and laughing hysterically at them.

"They just gave it to you?"

"Ah . . . I had to do some things for them first." Daniel didn't want to know what a group of drunken guards would do to a desperate man for a good laugh, or what Steve would do to take away his pain.

"Come on, Steve, let's go," Daniel said quietly.

"I'm gonna get them, Dan. All of them." he whispered, then more loudly, "All them freakin' savages! For you, Jamie!" He screamed at the sky while the guards started to laugh harder. Then finally he broke up sobbing and Daniel let him cry on his shoulder.

"Come on," he said again. "Lets go for a walk." He wanted to get away from these morons.

When Steve was more sober, they sat down on the side of the road. "I'm sorry." Steve said, not looking at him but out into space. "I messed up. . .again." He brushed a hand through his dark hair.

"We've all messed up."

"But how're we gonna fix it?"

Daniel was silent. He didn't know the answer to that.

"'Cause I was thinkin' that before my parents died they said that our great grandparents had their own brewery." Oh, no. Not _this _story again.

"And it was the best brewery in town." Daniel kept trying to remind Steve that this was the hundredth time he'd heard it, but he didn't stop him from telling the story. All Steve had left was his past.

"Then this new place came up, that had terrible stuff and we coulda put them out of business easy, But one night we lost it all. The Gerudo took everything. The barrels, the hops, the beer, our money. They picked ours because we had the best. And we couldn't bring the business back because people started going to the other place by then. It's all the damn Gerudo's fault! They've probably got gold, money, and all sorts of stuff locked away in their desert." He looked at Daniel, making Daniel felt uncomfortable about whatever he was going to say next. "Haden and the others think so too. We were thinking of stealing some of the stuff back."

"Are you crazy, Steve! The Gerudo Fortress is heavily guarded and each guard is armed to the teeth with sharp, pointy things! You can't take them on. It won't be like some stupid fist fight on the streets. You'll need some kind of thing to defend yourself and even then, how would you get past all of them?"

Steve had a tired smile on his face. "Come on, I want to show you something." They walked down a dark alley until they found Haden with his friends around a small fire. They looked like they were burning garbage and every once in a while sparks flew out. Haden was the kind of person that you don't ask were he came from. He had long black unkept hair and darker eyes. They were hard and apparently unfeeling. Silver rings out lined the rim of his ears. But Daniel had a feeling that there was more to Haden than most people saw. He liked Haden, in a feeling-sorry-for-him way.

Haden glared up at them. "Knew you'd come here," he said.

Then again, Daniel didn't really trust him, either.

Steve started to talk excitedly but Daniel just stared at Haden's eyes, trying to figure out what he was up to. He didn't even notice Steve sitting him down.

"Dan!" Steve elbowed Daniel when he realized he wasn't listening. Daniel looked up and noticed some bundles in between them. Steve unwrapped them revealing ropes, what looked like hooks, extra bags and, most importantly, swords.

"Where did you get these things!" Daniel looked at each one of them for an answer. Haden was ignoring him, as usual, but Sam, Tom, and Joe all looked guilty.

"We . . . 'borrowed' them," Joe said meekly, after an awkward pause.

Daniel sighed. "You know, I don't see why you have to go all the way to the Gerudo's Fortress. Your doing a great job stealing right here. Why are you going there for anyway?"

"Were not stealing!" Joe quickly said. "We wouldn't steal from the town. That's why I said _borrowed_. We're returning all of this stuff when we're done with them."

"Are you?" Daniel said in a steely tone but Joe ignored him.

"Daniel, can't you see?" Steve cut in. "The reason why_ we_ don't have anything is because _they _stole it from us! We're just taking what is rightfully ours."

Daniel rubbed his head tiredly. "Yeah, but you just can't go up to their front gate, waving your swords and demanding them to give you stuff!"

"We ain't going through the front gate." interrupted Haden. "I got a plan, trust me."

_Oh yeah, trust me!_ Daniel thought._ We're just gonna commit suicide, but don't worry , we'll go to heaven, trust me!_ "See that there?" Haden pointed to something in the pile of tools. Daniel nodded without even looking, keeping a study glare on Haden. "That's climbing equipment. Were gonna climb over the wall. There's a natural wall that separates the desert and Hyrule Field, and where there isn't there's a manmade wall. We're going over the natural wall, there won't be any guards over there."

"You're crazy. You can't get over that!"

"We got to try, Daniel." Steve whispered. "Were not going to last much longer. Will you help us?"

"I am not-"

"Daniel! We need money! How are you going to help your Father?" Damn, why did he have to mention his father? "I know what it's like to lose the only one you have left! I don't want you to go through what I had to when Jamie died." Steve started to tremble. "I don't want you be alone like I am," he whispered.

Daniel put his arms around him. "You're not alone, Steve. I'm here. I'll come with you"

"You will?"

"Sure." What else could he do? Besides what did they have to lose?

Their lives.

"Ganondorf, where's your food?"

"I . . . I ate it Kotake."

"Good heavens child! We just gave it to you!" Koume exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, I was hungry."

"Eat, eat, eat! Aren't you ever satisfied? We don't _have _food! And the little we do have we have to give to you!"

"I'm not hungry anymore, Kotake."

"NO! We can't have a starving, weak, king! He must be strong!"

"I'M SORRY!" Ganondorf shouted, trying to make Kotake stop. Kotake stared at Ganondorf in confusion.

"What in all the name that is tasty are you sorry for!"

"I. . .um . . ."

"You're a king! Kings aren't 'sorry'"

"Yes, Kotake."

"Well. . ." Kotake looked at him expectantly, but Ganondorf didn't know what else she wanted. "Well say you're sorry for saying you're sorry!" Ganondorf was confused until both Kotake and Koume started to laugh. Apparently that was a joke.

"Here, drink this." Koume gave Ganondorf a drink that smoked with magic.

"Do I _have_ to?"

"Yes of course! It'll make you stronger every day."

Ganondorf held his nose as he drank it. "Yuck."

There was a suddenly commotion outside. Excited shouts, things toppling over and a scream. Kotake angrily stormed outside while Koume and Ganondorf looked out the window. Kotake caught a woman that was running by and demanded what was going on.

"They just brought in this monstrous horse! You should see it, it's huge! Caught it looking for food near the barn. Completely wild!"

"Shadow!"Ganondorf raced outside, following his ears. He found Shadow with five lassos around his muscular neck. "Shadow!" he repeated, and started to go after him, but before he could someone grabbed his shoulder.

"Whoa, there kid. We can't have you turned into a pancake!" Giselle said as the horse reared up in the air and screamed. The horse violently swung its body into some of the Gerudo. As he reared again some of the girls who were hanging on to his ropes were flung into the air.

Jennie came out at the noise outside. "That horse is going to kill someone! Get rid of it!" A sound of a scimitar being unsheathed caused Ganondorf to jump. He wiggled himself out of Giselle's arms and ran to the panicked horse.

"Shadow!" The horse returned to earth. He had heard that voice before. "It's ok, Shadow. I won't hurt you." Shadow stuck his nose in Ganondorf's chest, breathing in his familiar scent.

"Wow, the kid's got a way with horses," Giselle said to one of the girls next to her.

"You know," the girl replied, "that horse has got a lot a meat on it."

"NO! You can't eat Shadow!" cried Ganondorf. He had his arms wrapped around Shadow's head protectively. He looked at Jennie. She would be the one with the final word. "Please Jennie! Giselle said I needed a better horse anyway and this one will be the best, I promise. I promise he'll be worth his keep. I promise, I promise! Please, please, please, please, please!"

Jennie looked at Ganondorf and the horse. They desperately needed the food, but Ganondorf had tamed the wild horse in only a second. It had to be a sign from the Goddesses. Besides, Ganondorf was just too damn cute to say no to.

"What the hell. Fine."

"Yes!"He turned to his horse. "You hear that Shadow? You're going to be my horse. I'm going to take good care of you, and feed you and brush you and do everything for you." Shadow sighed in relief.

"Well don't just stand there!" Jennie snapped. "Get that thing into the barn!" Ganondorf hurriedly did what he what he was told.

Giselle smiled broadly at Jennie. "What!" Jennie demanded.

"Look how happy he is." They watched Ganondorf jog to keep up with the long stride of the steed.

"That kid is WAY too spoiled."

"Hmm," Giselle said, not really listening. "I think he'll be one heck of a king. He hasn't turned out that bad, considering he's being raised by the witches and all."

Jennie thought for awhile "They aren't his mothers. If anything, you'd be the most like his mother."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"He spends all the time he can with you and you're the one he talks to. He hardly ever talks to anyone else, except maybe Yazzman. He really loves you."

Giselle stood there thinking until she heard Ganondorf's voice out in the distance "Giselle!"

"What the hell do ya want now!" she called back.

"I can't reach the brushes!"

She sighed. "Damn kid," she muttered as she headed toward the barn. Then it was Jennie's turn to smile broadly.

"Isn't he beautiful, Giselle?" They watched Shadow in his stall gobbling his oats.

"Look at him go. Probably hasn't eaten a good meal in days. You didn't give him too much did you? It'll give him a stomachache."

"I only gave 'im a couple of handfuls." Ganondorf sat on the hay stroking Shadow's powerful legs. "Giselle, can I–"

"No! You can't sleep in the barn."

"But what if he gets lonely?"

"He'll be fine."

"But–"

"No. It's getting late now. I shoulda sent you inside hours ago. Come on."

Ganondorf reluctantly got up. "Good night, Shadow." He gave the horse a hug and went with Giselle.

"You're going with them!"Melissa screeched. "Oh my gosh. That's it, then. You're gonna die. You're going to get killed out there and leave me all alone here!"

"Melissa, calm down. I don't have a choice."

"You could get a job."

"I've tried!"

"Fine then, go die!"

"I'm not going to die, I promise."

"In my whole life, I have never met a man who kept a promise."

Daniel sighed. "Melissa--"

"Don't you 'Melissa' me! You know very well how dangerous this is! And you know what it would do to me if you die! And think of your father!"

"Actually, I have been thinking of him. Would you take care of him in case I . . . don't come back?" He looked at her pleadingly.

Melissa sighed, "Of course I will. But I won't forgive you if you die. I'll kill you if you do." Daniel smiled at the weak attempt at humor.

"I won't die," Daniel insisted.

"You better not." She kissed him on the cheek. They walked slowly together, wondering if this would be their last time together. Eventually they reached Daniel's father, sitting in his usual spot.

"Dad?" The old man started, snapped back his head.

"Eh?"

"It's me, Dad. Daniel."

"Oh. Yes, yes, of course." He let his eyes droop again.

"I'm going away for a while. I want you to listen to Melissa, ok?" he said slowly.

"Who?"

"Melissa." He pulled her closer. "You remember her right?" Melissa waved uncomfortably.

"Who?" He looked at the girl more closely until he remembered. "Oh yeah, the _girl_." He stared at her longer, making her smile uncomfortably, too. "You ain't giving me grandkids, are you?" Melissa blushed but not as much Daniel.

"Dad! No, I'm going away for awhile ok?"

"Hmm . . . ok. Be back soon."

"I will, I promise." He kissed his father on the forehead. "Good-bye." he whispered. He turned to go but Melissa stopped him and kissed him fiercely.

"Get the hell outta here." she said. There were tears in her blue eyes, her light brown hair tangled and all over the place, but she looked beautiful to him. His father gave him a look and raised an eyebrow. Daniel just flashed a grin and took off.

Melissa watched him go, tears still in her eyes. She turned to his father, a big grin on his face. She stood there for a while, not knowing what to do with him.

"Where did my cupcake go?"

"What?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Melissa." She sighed.

"Oh yeah, the _girl._"

"Yes, I am the _girl!_"

"Sorry, Miss. Just want you to be good to my cupcake." It suddenly dawned on her that Daniel was the cupcake. She smirked at the stupid nickname. She never had a stupid nickname from her parents, though she had hardly known them before they died. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to have a dad. She sat next to him. "Where _is_ my cupcake?"he asked.

"He'll be back soon."

" . . .Ok. Would you mind sitting with me, Miss?"

"Not at all." He nodded his head and fell asleep. "He _will _be back soon . . . won't he?" she asked herself.

"I know I asked this already, but how on earth are we suppose to get over that?"

"It _is _slightly bigger then I thought it was. That's why we're not climbing it." Haden said calmly.

"Then why the hell did we lug all this climbing equipment here for?" This guy was really getting on Daniel's nerves.

"We'll climb your cliff," Haden answered impatiently. "But not this one. A smaller one. First we take that river over there by boat."

Daniel looked to his right and down the small river. There was a small boat that definitely didn't look like it could hold six people. It was tied to a stake in the ground. "And where did that come from?"

Haden sighed. "I didn't steal it. I made it, ok?"

Daniel walked toward it, suddenly impressed. "Wow. If you can make boats why don't you start a business or something?"

"I said I made it. Didn't say it was good." As if on cue a leak suddenly squirted from the bottom. "Crap!" He pulled out some kind of clothing from a sack he'd been carrying and stuffed it into the new hole.

"We can't go on that," Daniel said matter-of-factly.

"No, it's ok. I fixed it."

"We _can't_ go on that."

"Come on, it's the easiest way"

"Haden, we can't all even fit in that, plus we have climbing equipment _and _swords."

"We _might_ fit."

"No. I'm not doing it. There's got to be a different way."

"Yeah, if you want to take a week to climb a 90 degree cliff!"

"You know what-"

"Guys!" Steve cut off whatever Daniel was going to say. "We can all fit if we put the swords between our knees and the climbing equipment on our laps. The only problem I see is some discomfort." Daniel sighed in defeat as one by one they climbed in to the boat.

"Are you sure this ain't gonna sink with all this weight on it, Haden?" asked Joe as he climbed on. With each person, the boat sank considerably lower into the water.

"Sure," he said, but he was _very_ careful when he climbed in. The only person left was Daniel.

"Come on Daniel, there's room."

Daniel closed his eyes as he stuck his foot in. _It's gonna sink, it's gonna sink, it's gonna sink. _He opened his eyes. He was on, and it didn't sink!

Haden looked over the edge to see that the water was just a centimeter from meeting the rim. "Awesome! Oh, here." He took his sack and handed everyone some clothing which now Daniel realized were socks. "If you see a leak, fix it. And here we go!" He took his sword and cut the rope.

Ganondorf opened his eyes a few minutes after the door closed. He had to see if Shadow was all right. This was his first night in a stall. He was use to sleeping in wide open spaces. What did Giselle know of horses? He could panic, break down the door and destroy anything else in his way or worst, he could hurt himself. Ganondorf had to comfort him. But he was trapped. There was a least two guards out side the door, for it was Gerudo law that the King have at least someone watching him at all times, but sometimes Ganondorf could get away from them. He'd need a different way of escaping. He looked around there was one window to allow light to come in with out the use of torches, since those things were 'dangerous'. But the window looked like he could fit through it and if he remembered correctly, they faced the archery setup which was right next to the stables. Perfect! But then he realized the window was too high. . . . darn. Wait! If he pushed his bed over to the wall he could just reach it and pull himself out. He started to push the rather large bed across the dark stone floor. It made a terrible screeching sound. Crap. The door opened at the sound.

"Highness?" The guard poked her head in. "Are you all right?"

"Hi," Ganondorf said nervously.

"What are you doing?" asked the other guard.

"I fell out of bed." The two guards stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "And I was pushing it against the wall so I won't be likely to do it again.

"Ok . . ."

"Can you help me?"

"What the heck." They both helped Ganondorf shove the bed nest to the wall. "There,"

"Thank you." Ganondorf slid into the bed and put his back against the wall. He smiled at them.

"Sure." They shrugged and returned to there posts.

Once the door was closed Ganondorf got up. He grabbed on to the ledge of the window ans slowly pulled himself up. He nearly fell down headfirst but he caught himself. He got his feet underneath him and jumped down, landing on his hands and knees, the sand cushioning his fall. He heard a soft whinny from the barn. See? He was already starting to get antsy. He dashed, barefoot, to his horse.

They were all soaked through as the small boat bounced up and down the river that had gotten considerably faster and bumpier. They busied themselves scooping water out with their bare hands. Water that had gotten in from the sides and the many leaks that had formed since the whole thing started. No one was really steering, and they were starting to run out of socks.

"This river seemed to be a lot slower before," commented Tom, stating the obvious.

"It's quicker this way," Sam said with a grin.

"What are we supposed to do now!" Daniel cried angrily at Haden who ignored him, staring intently at the stone wall.

"I think it's right here . . ." Haden muttered.

"What?"

"Get me a grappling hook or something," Haden called, still ignoring Daniel.

"Hey does any one else hear that?" Joe asked as an audible rumbling noise grew louder and louder. They all turned their attention to the monstrous waterfall a few meters ahead of them.

"Holy shit!"

"Give me the damn grappling hook!"

"What's a grappling hook!"

"That is, you idiot!"

"Oh no, we're gonna die!"

"I knew it."

"I blame Haden."

"You know what?" Haden threw the grappling hook. It missed and he hastily reeled it back to try again. "I really don't need this!" He threw it again and it caught. "Hold onto me!" he cried. Daniel rolled his eyes, put his sword in his hand, careful not to stab Haden with it, and reluctantly put his arms around Haden's waist. Steve did the same to him and the others followed. Them, suddenly stopping, caused the boat to slam against the wall. The boat shattered and most of the supplies were barely shoved under their arms in time.

"Haden! The boat's gone!" Joe cried.

" I realized that, Joey. BY THE LACK OF BOAT UNDERNEATH ME!"

"Hey, Haden? Is this part of your 'brilliant' plan? Because I think it's going wonderfully!"Daniel commented with sarcastic cheerfulness.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! For Din's sake! Will you let it go!You didn't_ have_ to come, ya know?"

"I know. I just can't think of a better way to spend my life, bothering you."

"Ha. Ha. How much supplies do we have left?"

"About half of the climbing equipment and all the swords." answered Sam.

Haden sighed in relief. "Good, we got most of it."

"Yeah, 'good' is _just _the word I'd use to describe our situation." Daniel couldn't help but be annoyed.

"One more word--"

"Yeah, yeah."

They stared at each other, swinging wildly in the air, every so often smashing into the wall.

"But Haden, those things weren't ours. How we going to return them?" Joe asked.

Haden started to pull them closer to the wall. "We'll repay them back with all the money we'll get when we return." He start to pull himself up. "We'll show those Gerudo what Hylians are made of."

"What?" Joey, the not-so-bright one, asked.

"Well _I _don't know! Guts and stuff! Can we move on? I have to concentrate!"

They were silent for a while, thinking how it would be like to be to be able to pay someone back. To not have to worry about starving or where you can sleep. All of them found renewed strength and tried to swim against the current to give Haden some help.

"Can I get a hook, some rope and a hammer?" Haden had stopped pulling so he was only halfway out of the water.

"Like we have those," Daniel muttered.

"We don't?" Haden stared down at them, his face falling for a second, before his eyes hardened again into that angry, 'don't-give-a-damn,' slightly crazy look.

"Yeah we do!" Joe cried as he and Sam threw the supplies to Haden. He had a _fun _time trying to catch them.

"Okay, I've got to think for a second," Haden said.

"Good. Take your time, why don't you? We aren't in a hurry, about to be rushed off the edge of a waterfall. Nah. We're fine. Don't worry."

"I can let go of this thing and we can all fall down the hundred foot waterfall! . . .Hey there's no hammer!"

"We might of lost that," said Tom. "It's hard to grab stuff when you have one arm holding on for your life AND hold on tho a sword with out killing your buddy AND grab supplies before they sink or get swept away!"

"Fine." Haden grunted. He gripped the rope with his feet so his hands would be free to tie the rope to the hook, but with the strong current and five people holding on to him he lost his balance and fell back into the water.

Daniel let go of him and quickly grabbed the rope then re-grabbed Haden, almost stabbing him by accident. With all his strength he pulled Haden back up so he could grab the rope again.

"What the hell are you thinking? I didn't actually think you would let go! You want to kill us all?"

"I was trying to tie the rope on to the hook," he muttered defensively.

"Oh. . .wait! I have an idea! Between the two of us, we have four hands. We each need at least one hand to hold on to the rope of the grappling hook, which leaves us with two hands left to tie the other rope."

Haden thought for a moment making sure that this plan (that was not _his_ plan) was ok. ". . . Fine." He put the hook between his teeth and snaked the rope through while Daniel took one end.

"Ok, hold up your end, now slide it underneath my piece . . . _underneath_ my piece! Now pull it right . . . RIGHT! I said right!"

"I AM going right!" Haden tried to say with the hook in his mouth but it came out as "MI MAM moing might!"

"My right!" They continued to awkwardly tie the knot till they were sure it was securely tied to the hook. Haden took it out of his mouth and put the pointed end to the side of the wall.

"Hammer it in with the hilt of your sword."

"Ok," Daniel said, unsure. His hands were already shaking because he had been in the water for too long and the night was colder then usual, but he didn't want to tell Haden he couldn't do it so he tightened his grip on the sword and gave it a good wack.

"AHH!" Haden pulled his hand away. "Damn it, Daniel." he hissed.

"I am _so _sorry! Are you ok?"

Haden chucked the hook at Daniel who barely caught it. "YOU hold the hook and I'LL hammer it!"

Daniel tentatively placed the hook against the wall. Haden pulled back his arm to strike the hook but at the last second Daniel took it away.

BAM! The hilt collided with rock. "Daniel!" Steve said in annoyance.

"Didn't you just see that! He tried to crush my hand! Didn't you hear the sound!"

"We're all gonna catch hypothermia! You have to just trust him!"

"Yeah Daniel . . . trust me." Haden said evilly. Fortunately, Steve picked up the tone too and gave Haden a look. Haden rolled his eyes. "Fine, I promise I won't hurt you." he said sulkily. Daniel suspiciously placed the hook back on the wall, ready to pull his hand away again if need be, but Haden just tapped it until it was firmly in place. He gave it a sharp tug. "Ok, Daniel, you go on this rope, Steve you climb up with me, Joe, go with Daniel and do with him the same thing he and me did before, Sam, come with me to pass us supplies and Tom will do same for Daniel's group." They slowly but surely climbed the cliff in this awkward way.

Haden was the first to make it to the top and help pulled everyone up. When it was Daniel's turned to be hauled up, Haden gasped and pretended to drop him but caught him at the last second. Daniel screamed and nearly wet his pants. Haden chuckled evilly as Daniel glared daggers at him and quickly walked away from the edge of the cliff.

When everyone was up they collapse to the ground exhausted. "Who votes to never _ever_ do that again?" said Sam with his arm raised. The rest followed suit before letting their hands fall lifelessly to their sides.

"Hey Haden?" Joe asked softly.

Haden rolled onto his side to face Joe. "Yeah?"

"If we're not doing that again, how are we getting back?"

"Well Joey, were gonna bust through the front gate on some Gerudo stallions!"

"Man, it's like freaking cold! Isn't the desert supposed to be warm?" Tom asked. The whole party was shivering like crazy.

"We should keep moving, we'll all freeze if we stop now," informed Daniel. They kept moving along the cliff.

Two Gerudo guards sat shivering next to a small fire, their cloaks wrapped tightly around each other. They were supposed to be guarding the pass between Gerudo Fortress and the Archery Course, but no one _ever_ came that way. No one ever came anywhere except for some idiotic Hylian solder through the front gate (Not like they ever made it _through _the front gate). The truth was, the whole Fortress was surrounded by sheer cliff (except for the Haunted Wasteland, but nobody came from there, either.) No one was stupid enough to go though that way. Many had argued that the guarding was overreacting, but Jennie had put her foot down, so Tera and Tia, sisters, twins actually, were freezing their butts off looking for nonexistent enemies. They were getting quite bored so were playing a game to come up with who was most likely win in a fight.

"Goron or Zora?"

"Goron. Sheikah or Hylian?

"Sheikah. Sheikah or Gerudo?"

"GERUDO!" They both screamed in laughter.

"No wait, what about Kotake or Jennie?"

"Hmm . . . Well Kotake knows magic but when Jennie gets angry. . . whoo guts fly!"

"Wait! Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounded like screaming . . . male screaming."

". . . Ok. Um, why would there be men in the Archery Course?"

Tia thought for a second then raised her finger in triumph. "To steal the horses!"

"Ok let me reword that question. _How_ are men in the Archery Course?"

". . . Magic?"

Tera rolled her eyes.

"Hey, there it is again!"

"Fine, we'll go check it out."

They reached the edge and saw a long strip of empty sand. No one seemed to be there . . . just like Haden had said. To the left there was an opening that most likely led to the Fortress and further left there was a barn. "Ah . . . how are we gonna get down?" asked an uncertain Daniel.

Haden smiled. "You hold one end of a rope while the rest of us climbs down. Then when it's your turn, just jump and we'll catch you."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. How many hooks do we have left?"

"Like two. And no rope. "

"That's not good."

"No. Really?"

"Well, we can just throw the swords down there so we don't have to carry them."

"Ok, how about this," Steve jumped in, afraid of another fight. "We climb down with Daniel holding the rope, right? And then he can just, like, use the hooks to climb down. And if he falls, we'll be there."

Daniel sighed. "No. Besides THERE IS NO ROPE!"

Hayden glared at him. "Hey, stop being so negative. Anyway, I have a plan."

"Oh, boy."

"Shut up. One person jumps off the cliff–"

"Because all good plans start with 'One person jumps off the cliff,'" Daniel muttered sarcastically.

"Shut up. This person--" he glared at Daniel evilly–"will be holding the hooks. We'll hold onto his feet. This way, we'll slowly lower ourselves down the cliff. Then the person at the top will climb down to the bottom and pull the hooks out of the rock. Then we'll continue this way. Sound good?"

"We climb upside down? Who's supposed to hold the person's feet as they pull the hooks out of the cliff? Who keeps up on the side of the cliff? _Are you freakin' crazy?_" Daniel was getting frustrated. "Do you have a death wish?"

"Will you shut the hell up!" Hayden wasn't happy either. "It'll work, okay? All my plans have worked so far. Just trust me. Who's with me?" He turned to the others. They were nodding. Daniel shook his head.

"Oh, Goddess."

A few minutes later he was hanging upside down clutching a pair of hooks for dear life. Tom was on top, holding Joey's ankles. "I'm coming down," he cried.

He let go. Joey wildly scrabbled for a rock ledge or something. He swung out over the ground far below them. Hayden and the others, who together formed a chain of idiots, all went after him and did a sort of flip which caused Daniel, who was originally on the bottom, to then be miraculously on top. He was the only one keeping them all from dying. He had the hooks, and everyone had his ankles. They dangled over the ground. It looked like they were going to be okay.

Then Tom smashed onto Daniel's shoulders like an insane piggyback. The hooks were ripped from the wall, and they all fell.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"_Brilliant _idea, Hayden!"

"Shut UP, Danny!"

Daniel shoved the hooks forward wildy. With a screech, the hooks dug into the cliff face. They skidded to a halt. There was a long silence. Then Hayden said the doomed words:

"Danny? Do that again."

"Are you kidding?"

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

It was useless to argue. Daniel pulled out the hooks again. With a scream, they toppled to the ground.

He shoved the damned hooks (that were looking pretty battered) back into the wall. Screech. Skid. Stop. Yank. Scream. Screech. Skid. Stop.

They kept that up for a long time. They were finally only a few yards above the ground.

"One more time," Hayden instructed.

Daniel had noticed that the hooks were in terrible shape. "Uh, Hayden . . ."

"Just do it."

But then the hook broke in half. The hook part was still stuck.

"AAAAHHH!"

"Goddesses! What's wrong?"

"Uh-oh."

Smash. They all collapsed into a heap onto the ground.

"Ow," Joey muttered. "Owowowowowowow . . ."

Hayden sat up and turned to Daniel, who was struggling to untangle himself from Tom and Steve. "Satisfied?"

"Oh crap."

"What's your problem?"

"Someone heard us. Quick, behind the barn." They moved as quickly as they could without too much noise.

"I thought I heard something," Tia said disappointedly.

"You always think you hear something but you don't. You're overtired."

There was a small window of the barn that they all clumsily climbed into. Once all inside the tiny room they huddled close together, trying to stop shivering. Steve then looked up to see where they were.

"Guys, look," he whispered. They were in some kind of tack room, filled with gold, silver and jewels adorning saddles and bridles and long _dry_ cloaks. They changed from their wet clothes gratefully.

"Hey, look! The sand's all wet over here!" Tia exclaimed excitedly! "And look, tracks!"

"Crap," whispered Daniel "We need to leave." They all jumped back out of the window and went around the other side of the barn, walking low so that the hems of their cloaks would wipe away the tracks they were making.

Tera unsheathed her scimitar and started to follow the wet tracks and Tia followed excitedly. They came to the window and Tera hopped in.

"What's in there?" whispered Tia.

Tera looked around and spotted the piles of wet clothes. She picked up a piles with the tip of her sword and brought it to the window to show Tia.

"A drowned animal?"

Tera flicked the soggy clothes on to the sand. "No just wet clothes."

"Hmm . . . why would someone fall off a cliff and leave us wet clothes?"

"They're idiots?"

"We're geniuses!" Hayden exclaimed quietly as they watched the Gerudo guards search the tack room. They were hidden behind one wall, hunkering down so that they were completely invisible.

Daniel sighed. He hated Hayden _so much. _"Well, then O' Brilliant One, what do we do now?"

"We lie in wait until they leave. Then we take the golden tack and look for other stuff."

"We look for other gold and money and food?"

"Yep."

"In long, easy-to-trip-on cloaks."

"Uh . . . huh." Hayden sounded less confident.

"While carrying heavy tack and swords. Which we'll have to use when we wake up the fortress of strong, amazingly good fighter women because we're SO CLUMSY. Then we'll steal horses, run like hell, and hopefully get to Hyrule Market, where they're not supposed to find us."

Hayden tapped his lips with his index finger, thinking. "It could happen."

"Hey, the cloaks are gone!" Tia said with a triumphant grin.

"That explains the clothes," Tera rationalized.

"Are they still here?"

"Probably."

"Let's start looking, then."

Hayden's face went pale. "Crap."

Steve tugged on his coat sleeve. "What do we do! They'll find us!"

"Be quiet!" Daniel hissed. "Hayden can help us. Right?"

"Crap crap crap."

"Never mind."

"Distraction!"

"That could work but who would want to?"

"I do!" said Sam excitedly. "And so does Tom."

"What?"

"You the fastest of all of us so you're coming with me if you like it or not."

Tom groaned but reluctantly agreed. All of them worked their way around the barn, the Gerudo right behind them, until they reached the window again. They climbed in leaving Sam and Tom outside.

"We circled the whole barn and didn't find anything else." Tia said, depressed.

"Hey Gerudo!" came a loud whisper from the left.

"There!" They ran in that direction but then stopped dead when they heard another noise from the right.

"You fight like a girl . . . ah because you are one!"

Tera smiled when she realized they were up against a pair of male Hylians. There is no stupider creature in Hyrule. She motioned Tia to go one way while she went the other.

"THEY'RE COMING BOTH WAYS! Tom shouted and they both turned the only way they could, Gerudo Fortress. The Gerudo were hot on there heels.

"HA! YOU CAN'T CATCH US!"

"Sam, I think they can, run faster!"

Daniel finished tacking up his horse with the beautiful saddle. It took a while for them to figure out how all the straps went on. They had six horses loaded on with stuff. Two of them would be left riderless until they found Tom and Sam, where ever they were.

"Guys, have you noticed how skinny theses horses are? You think that if they have all this gold they could feed them," said Steve.

"Probably just the kind of breed they are." Haden said with hardly any thought.

About five stalls away from them, Ganondorf woke up, laying in hay. He pulled a piece out of his hair and looked around. Shadow was pacing nervously. He heard unfamiliar voices. Thinking he was just dreaming, he curled up tighter and mumbled to Shadow to settle down. Then he heard one of the voices just outside the stall.

"Goddess . . . guys, look at the size of this horse!" Joe was too close and Shadow didn't like it. He reared up on his hind legs, his forelock brushing the ceiling. He gave a heart stopping scream.

"Joey! What the hell are you doing? Someone will hear us!"

The scream had caused Joe to back up, which was good because then the horse slammed his forelegs into the stall door. It shattered at the impact. The barn doors were closed and Shadow snorted with frustration when he realized he couldn't get out. Shadow couldn't escape, but Ganondorf could. If he didn't know better, he'd say these strange people with the long pointed ears were stealing from _them_. The great _Gerudo_. He had to tell someone. He made a run for it but someone, with a sword, caught him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"LET —" His mouth was muffled with a hand.

"Haden, let the kid go."

"He's going to give us away if the damn horse doesn't! Would somebody shut that thing up!"

Nobody was going to hurt _his_ horse. Ganondorf bit hard on the hand that had him.

"Damn it! Stupid kid!" He held up his sword.

"Haden, NO!"

About a couple of minutes after Tera and Tia had left Giselle and Jessie had taken a walk to the Archery Course. Jessie thought it was to spar but Giselle really just wanted a walk. They found it a little strange that Tera and Tia were gone but came to the conclusion that they were just playing hooky to get out of sitting out on the cold night.

"Are we gonna spar or what?" Jessie demanded.

"Spar? Why we want to do a thing like that?"

"To make us stronger, faster, smarter--"

"Yeah, we both know you are exceptionally good at all those things, therefore you don't need the practice, and as for me, if I fight you I'll just get my ass kicked and I _know_ I don't want to do that."

"You really need to learn how to use a sword, Giselle."

"I can too use a sword! Watch this." She did a backbend and balanced the hilt of the sword under her chin. "Oh! What now! How is it that this amazing Gerudo can do this!"

Jessie rolled her eyes. "I'm going back inside if you're not going to do anything but circus tricks. It's freezing out."

"Get some backbone, girl," Giselle said as she smoothly straightened.

"Yeah look who's talking." And Jessie left.

Giselle stood there for awhile, enjoying the quite of the night. She twirled her scimitar absently until she heard the scream of the big black horse. "Damn horse." she muttered. She slowly walked to the barn, taking her time. She wasn't looking forward to trying to calm down the crazy animal, but as she got closer to the barn she also heard voices that she shouldn't be hearing. With the skilled quietness of a true thief she opened the back barn door. What she saw nearly gave her a heart attack. The crazy horse was pounding the hell out of the door on the other side of the barn. A short dark hair boy looked like he was trying to do something about it, but was to afraid to get closer. Another dark hair one (slightly taller) was with a light brown haired one yelling at someone with black hair. And that one had a sword (well they all had swords) but this one was pointed at her small and young king. Instincts took over and she charged at the intruder, impaling him with her scimitar. He fell to the ground and never knew what hit him.

Ganondorf stared at the body, slightly freaked out . . . ok, really freaked out.

Giselle stood between Ganondorf and the others, twirling the bloody sword in her fingers, partly because she was told it looked intimidating and partly just to calm her nerves. She just killed a guy!

Daniel and Steve stared at horror at Haden's dead body. Joe looked liked he had cracked. An insane expression of hate distorted his features, all fear gone from him. He madly dashed at her with his sword.

He hardy got close before Giselle slashed open his stomach. Ganondorf cowered close to Giselle, never being more afraid in his entire life.

Steve leaned over to Daniel and whispered in his ear. "Go, I'll hold her off."

"Are you crazy? She's going to kill you!"

Steve looked surprisingly calm. "Go."

Daniel bit his lip but looked for a way to escape. One way was guarded by a crazy angry horse while the other was guarded by a crazy angry Gerudo. He decided to go the way they had came, through the window in the tack room, but he hesitated and stayed in the door way of the room to look one more time at his friend.

Steve looked into the Gerudo's beautiful hazel eyes. She seemed to understand something and raised her sword. Both swords clanged against each other, but she was stronger. She knocked his sword out of the way and prepared to cut her sword into his now exposed chest, but a second sword stopped her. Daniel had come to help his friend.

Ok, now she'll have to fight against two. Two against one. Two _Hylians _against a Gerudo. Two Hylians against a Gerudo who had never been in a real fight before. She fended off both of them easily at first, but after a while she became tired and started to regret skipping sparing classes.

Ganondorf watched in excitement and fear. He had never seen a real fight before and developed a deep respect for Giselle. Well he already respected her before, but here she was, rescuing him from these scary people. He was also afraid that she might hurt herself, but sure that it wouldn't happen.

Giselle threw Daniel against the wall, then lunged at him, but Steve rammed into her. As they both fell to the ground Giselle managed to slice through Steve's stomach. He rolled up in a ball and laid still.

"Steve!" Daniel cried. This was his moment. The Gerudo was still recovering from her fall. He had an open shot . . . and took it.

She was her knees when he drove the sword into her stomach. For a moment their eyes locked. She was pretty and young, not that much older then they were. And he had just killed her. He had just killed someone . . . this . . . this girl. She would never live the rest of the long life that was promised of her . . . because of him. He let go of the sword, expecting her to fall, but she didn't. She just stared at him, a dead, dying stare.

He scrambled over to Steve and gently rolled him over. "Steve?"

Steve gave Daniel a smile before his body went limp like of the rest of the group. Daniel held him close.

"GISELLE!" The little boy ran over to the Gerudo girl. Daniel had forgotten about him. The Gerudo girl turned her head to look at the boy. He couldn't tell if her face was emotionless, or filled with so much emotion that it appeared emotionless. The boy flung his arms around her and sobbed.

That was when she finally fell.

The horse, who'd become quiet during the fighting, had finally noticed the opening at the other side of the barn that Giselle had entered by. He hated the smell of blood. The horse leapt over the fallen bodies of Haden and Joe and out the door, but nobody noticed.

The boy was sobbing hysterically now. Daniel knew he should make a run for it while he could, but he couldn't take his eyes off the fallen Gerudo girl. Fallen, not dead, he realized now. She was still alive in the boys arms, a sword stuck though her. This bothered him more then the thought of her dead. She had to suffer before she died.

Daniel held Steve's body tighter. What the hell were they thinking? How could a bunch of Hylian boys expected to raid the Gerudo Fortress? Three were killed by just one. Now they were all dead. Steve, Joe and even Haden. Tom and Sam were probably dead too. And the thing is, they brought it on themselves. This wasn't the Gerudo's fault at all. She was just protecting the kid. And now she was dying because of them. What was _Daniel_ thinking? How did he expect to go through this thing without any fighting? What were the swords for? Just to wave them around and expect to scare the Gerudo away? This was their home. The guys were probably better off dead. Their lives were terrible and none of them had families, at least not anymore. All except Daniel, but Melissa would take care of his father. Probably better than he could. He wasn't going back. Things just didn't matter anymore.

Tom and Sam actually got pretty far before getting caught. It wasn't that they didn't meet up with any other guards, they met quite a few actually, but everyone was so amazed that two _Hylians_ had gotten into Gerudo Fortress that there was a moment of hesitation. It was not every day that you're there, staring in to space, bored out of your mind and all of a sudden you see two Hylians zipping by. The hesitation only lasted for a second though and it wasn't long until they had about 20 Gerudo on their tail. It was Yazzman who finally caught them. They tried to run past her, one on each side like they did with the others, but Yazzman was not like the others. She grabbed both their arms and bonked their heads together for warning not to try to escape, but the mere grip she had on them was enough to make them stop moving.

"What the hell is going on here?" she demanded to the rest of the Gerudo who were chasing them.

"Um they got in?"

"How the hell–"

"Not through Gerudo Valley!" Tia interrupted. "They came over the cliff by the Archery Course."

"Did they now?" Yazzman looked at trespassers with new respect. Her cool gold eyes made them tremble in fear. "See? This is why Jennie is right to have guards. I know you girls think it's a waste of energy, but this kind of thing could happen any day. Were there any others?"

"I . . . I don't think so," Tia said not really sure.

Yazzman looked at Tom and brought him close to her face. "Were there any others?"

Tom swallowed thickly but didn't answer. He just glared back her the best he could.

This was the moment when Shadow trotted by. All eyes were on the horse as he slowly came to a stop and contentedly started to stare at them.

"Something's happening in the barn."

Tom and Sam were thrown into a cell as everyone else rushed to the barn.

"Wow . . ."Yazzman murmured as she saw the mess before her. Two guards dragged Daniel away. He went with no resistence. Yazzman pried a still screaming Ganondorf from Giselle and let him sob into her. "Well," she demanded to the other Gerudo. "Take her to the Healer already!" She was probably already dead, but she didn't want Ganondorf to know. Giselle was dragged away by four Gerudo. "And clean up this mess!" she said as she picked up Ganondorf and carried him away.

SLAP! "What were you thinking? Leaving your room in the middle of the night!"

SLAP! Yazzman winced as Kotake slapped Ganondorf again.

"You don't deserve to have a horse after such behavior!" SLAP! Ganondorf had stopped sobbing by now, but he still had tears flowing freely from his eyes. "And stop crying!" SLAP! "Gerudo don't cry! _Kings_ don't cry!"

Ganondorf swallowed thickly and hastily brushed the tears away.

"Now what has happened has happened. That girl is dead. There is nothing you can do about that now, but you can punish those responsible. And since you're the King, you're the one who decides on what to do with the miserable rats in our dungeon. Come on, make the decision!" said Koume

"I . . . I don't know."

"Oh! For Din's sake! What kind of King are you if you don't know what you want?"Kotake said in frustration.

Ganondorf knew what he wanted. He wanted this to have never happened. That the Hylians had never came and that Giselle was still alive. But he couldn't have that. It started to make him feel angry. He hated the Hylians. What wrong had they done to them?

Ganondorf's voice was hoarse when he made his decision. "I want them to pay."

Kotake turned to Yazzman. "The King wishes for the execution of the three prisoners. Go tell Jennie."

And as the day for the execution to begin, the small eight year old boy watched, feeling nothing but hate for the Hylians as they were put to death in front of him.


	5. Chapter 4 Tension

AN: Oh dear, I am SO sorry. I know I said I would cut this chapter in half but . . . I couldn't do it! SOB! Chapter 4 "Love Sucks" is still in here . . . somewhere. But I won't bore you with the detials why I choose not to butcher this chapter. And I won't tell you how many pages this was. Trust me, you don't want to know. This chapter was . . . difficult. The only reason I'm still wrighting this story is . . . I love it. Even if nobody else seems to.

--girl with the cap

Chapter 4

Tension

Nabooru lazily opened her hazel-gold eyes. Funny, why was it so bright? She realized she must have fallen asleep outside . . . again. She was lying under the tall target at the far end of the Archery Course. Her friends were probably looking all over for her . . . cool. This was a perfect opportunity to tell them what kind of amazing adventure she had. She had to keep up her all-important ego. 'Course, the elders might frown upon that. She hated being in this generation. _Everybody _was her elder! Except for the eight others that were her own age. There wouldn't be a new generation for a long time . . . at least until Ganondorf was of age, which was like in forever. That was why she had a plan. She was gonna be the best of her generation, that way when she did become older, she'd be on top! She was the best at sparing, stealing, lying, getting away with stuff . . . the list was endless. Nabooru, Second in Command! But that was still only second. Further then that would be King, and Nabooru could never be that. "Stupid Y chromosome," she muttered to herself. She could never be better then the King, or so they said. He probably thought he was hot stuff. "I'm the King," she said mockingly. "I'm so much _bigger _then you. I'm so much_ stronger_ then you. I'm so much_ better_ then you." She heard an annoying thumping sound coming from the other end of the Course. She was about to get up to tell whoever the hell it was off, when she saw who it was.

Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo.

"Sweet merciful crap!" She made herself small behind the crates. Would she get in trouble for being here? The King's guards were kinda touchy when it came to their job. Where _were_ the guards? She looked again. They were near the entrance of the Archery Course, concentrating on making sure no one came in and disturbed the King. The King was beating the crap out of a punching bag, giving it no mercy.

"Hmm," she thought to herself. The guards weren't really paying attention to what was happening inside the course, and besides, she was here first. She got up and brushed the sand off her, then she swung her scimitar to her shoulder and smartly walked over to the King of the Gerudo.

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Ganondorf beat on the bag over and over again. Sweat ran down his muscular chest. He had grown considerably during the last five years. Yazzman couldn't say he had skinny arms anymore. He was big for a 13 year old, but he wasn't complaining. Kotake and Koume had been training him mercilessly every day, and he was just happy that apparently it was working. Keeping them happy was hard; they always seemed to want more. He looked at the pounded bag. It was pretty sorry-looking and probably not doing him anymore good. He'd just have to get a new one. He grinned. Kotake and Koume would be proud.

"You sure kicked that bag's ass."

Ganondorf jumped at the unexpected voice. He turned to see a girl. Her red hair was pulled tight in a ponytail on top of her head, fastened with a clip with a huge ruby. Her eyes were heavily made, with gold eyeshadow that matched her eyes. Her uniform was pink, which told him she was a thief, but at her age it wasn't decided. He stared at her in surprise. "How did you get past the guards?"

Nabooru smiled at his discomfort and stretched. "With my mad sneaking skills." She finished stretching. "Seriously, you shouldn't take you anger out on the bag. It didn't do anything to you."

"I wasn't angry." Ganondorf muttered. "I was training."

"Training?" She looked like she was choking on something. "Listen, a real enemy isn't going to just sit there and let you beat the crap out of 'im. In a real fight, you're screwed." Who did this girl think she was? She _had _to know who _he_ was.

"Who are you?" Ganondorf said, sounding just about as confused as he felt.

"Me? I'm just some Gerudo girl named Nabooru, you?"

She just asked the King his name! Duh, everyone knew it was Ganondorf! What was her game? "I can't believe this!"

"You can't, can you? Well I just asked you a question and you just rudely chose to ignore it!"

"I'm sorry."Ganondorf sighed. Nabooru, it sounded familiar.

"Well you should be sorry! All I did was give you helpful advice on how crappy your fighting skills are--"

"Hey, my fighting _isn't_ crappy!"

"Oh really!"

"Really!" Ganondorf didn't know what came over him. He never got this angry before. "You think you could beat me!"

There was anger in the King's red orange eyes, but Nabooru had this nasty little problem of not listening to her brain. "Ah . . . YEAH!"

Ganondorf pulled out his scimitar and shoved it under Nabooru's nose. "Are you sure?" he asked in a dangerous low voice.

Nabooru didn't even flinch. She just narrowed her eyes and spat a big one on Ganondorf's sword. "That's what I think of you and your stupid fancy sword! So you want to take this outside?"

"Uh, we are outside."

"Now aren't _you_ the smart one!"

Ganondorf could only blink. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe it! He had to be almost twice her size. He was definitely stronger then her. He could crush her like a bug. He had just about finished the thought when all of a sudden something sharp and metally swung up at his face. He barely deflected it in time. He looked at Nabooru's eyes that were flashing with a slyness that Ganondorf had never seen before. Their swords were locked together.

Nabooru felt a rush of panic. It didn't show, of course. She had lots of practice on hiding her feelings, but now she knew she was in trouble. What had she gotten herself into now? She had just attempted to slice the face off of the King of the Gerudo! He was really, really, _really _strong. It was taking all her strength to keep the lock up, and she could tell by his face he wasn't even trying! It was almost like he was playing with her because he knew he would win. _No_body played with her! Not even the King of the Gerudo! She let his sword slip down her's, and jumped away from where it hit the ground. The sound of the sword hitting the ground so close to her caused her to jump a little higher then expected, but she still managed to land on her feet. He smiled smugly at her. She loved it when they were smug. It made it so much more devastating for them when they lost. It was time for plan B. Ganondorf swung at her. She ducked. He tried again. She moved out of the way. She could hear the power of each swing, the wind ripping in her ears. They were so strong that he could probably cut her right in half. Too bad he was as slow as a snail. She dodged a few more strikes and then rolled under one so that she was behind him. Then she stuck the hilt of her sword between his shoulder blades.

Ganondorf shivered as he felt the gold of the hilt touch his bare skin. "You're dead," she whispered in his ear. "Rematch?" Ganondorf narrowed his eyes in anger. He then swung as hard as he could behind him, releasing a cry as he did so. He missed again. They went on in this fashion. With every miss, it made Ganondorf madder, making his moves sloppy and even more predictable. Nabooru hit him a total of three times. She was actually starting to get bored. She expected more from the King then just this. Lost in her thoughts, Nabooru wasn't paying as much attention as much as she should've been, and Ganondorf made contact with her sword. He made it count.

Nabooru was smashed into the wall. Her teeth cracked together and she slowly slid to the ground. Suddenly she heard a sound that sounded like the end of the world. She felt an intense heat just above her head as something purple flew past her and then it all stopped. She hesitantly looked up to see the huge smoking black spot above her head. Then she looked over to Ganondorf, whose eyes were wide, staring at his outstretched hand. It was also smoking.

"Oh. My. FREAKIN Goddesses! That was . . . AWESOME! Do it again!"

"I-I don't know how."

"Hmm, maybe you have to be frustrated or mad first. I can help you with that!"

Ganondorf fell to his knees and sighed."I almost killed you . . . I can't do this."

"I guess that means I win!" Nabooru said brightly.

Ganondorf just looked at her before lowering his gaze to the ground. Nabooru, sensing she missed something, asked, "What can't you do?"

Ganondorf sighed again and waved his arms around. "This! I can't be a king. It's to hard! I can't even beat some normal Gerudo girl in a sparring match."

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't feel bad 'cause you lost to me! I'm the best damn Gerudo-" First she thought she hated Ganondorf because he was the snooty king who didn't talk to anyone, but he was just . . . a person. She sat next to him."Listen, you're a great king." She put an arm around his shoulder. "You're my King, "she murmured as an afterthought.

Ganondorf felt weird that someone was touching him and NOT hitting him. No one's done that since Yazzman on the night that Giselle died. He quickly threw the thought away and smiled weakly. "Nabooru, my people are starving. They don't say anything and they don't complain, but they are. The older ones are already starting to get too weak to even move."

"Well, that ain't your fault! It's those damn Hylians that won't let us trade with them. We have everything in the world except what we need. Kinda ironic isn't it?"

Ganondorf sighed in answer. They sat there for a moment in companionable silence. Then Nabooru said, "You still haven't told me your name yet."

Ganondorf laughed in disbelief. "You know what my name is."

"There you go again! Avoiding the question!"

Ganondorf sighed. "Ganondorf."

"Nice to meet you, Ganondorf!"

"Whatever." Nabooru looked like she would kill him. "I'm sorry!"

Nabooru made a noise that sounded like a frustrated growl.

"I just can't figure out how I'm going to save our people."

Man, she thought she got Ganondorf away from this topic.

"If we don't do anything, were all going to die!"

"The Gerudo can't die." Nabooru muttered stubbornly.

"Can't they!"

Nabooru was silent.

"There's no food hear. Nothing! We have to use the horses to go miles into the wasteland to find anything edible, the only reason why the few we still have are still alive, pretty soon they'll be eaten, and then they'll be gone . . . what else can we do? I-I can't let them all die . . ."

Nabooru was silent for a little longer, then she said, "What do you think you could do, march up to their gate and demand them to start trading with us again?"

Ganondorf looked at Nabooru. "You know what, I think that's what I'm going to have to do."

"What? You'll get shish kabobed with like 50 arrows!"

"I'm going to have to," he said again and got up to leave.

"Wait! Don't leave, I-" She stopped when she saw Yazzman enter the Archery Course. "Crap. Mom."

"Mom?" Ganondorf stopped at this.

"Ganondorf, there is- Nabooru!"

"Uh . . . hi?"

"NABOORU! I _know _I told you to be in the training area with the other girls! This is like the millionth time you've ran off! And now here you are, bothering the King! THE KING! Of all people!"

She turned to Ganondorf. "If she has wronged you in_ anyway_, I'll-"

"Wronged him?" Nabooru interrupted. "HE NEARLY BLEW MY-" Ganondorf put a huge hand over her month.

"No. She was fine." Nabooru tried to escape but he was too strong for her. She then settled for screaming but the sound was muffled. She sounded like a teapot on the stove as her face turned redder and redder. Yazzman looked at Nabooru in amusement, enjoying her frustration for a moment before she said ok.

Ganondorf let go, and she gasped for breath. "Now, I want you to get your little ass back with the other girls. You hear?"

"Whatever." She called over her shoulder as she started to go.

"Nabooru!"

"Sure, ok?" then "Snake," she muttered under her breath.

Yazzman hissed maturely back.

"So that's Nabooru." He couldn't believe he didn't realize it before.

"Yeah . . . Unfortunately. She needs to start figuring out where her place is before she gets in trouble . . . Hey! Wanna help me beat it into her?"

"As tempting as that sounds, I have to talk to Jennie about something."

"Oh yeah. She's been meaning to talk to you too."

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"Ganondorf," Jennie said as he came into the room. "Some of the girls are going out to look for what's out there. I was hoping you would like to accompany them."

Ganondorf agreed to. He was good at hunting, but that wasn't enough for all of the other Gerudo. "Jennie, This can't last forever."

Jennie sighed. "I know Ganondorf, but it's all we can do at the moment."

"I'm going to make the Hylians trade with us again."

"Ganondorf, you can't make a whole race change their opinions of us."

"I'll talk to their king. If I can make him understand, the rest will be easy. I mean the only reason they're not trading with us is because we kept stealing from them. If we just stop that we can fix it. We have enough gold to buy food for years, and we're pretty good at making weapons. We could sell those."

"Ganondorf, that's not the only reason why they don't like us. It's more complicated then that. We are different from the Hylians. A lot of everyday things that we do the Hylians consider to be . . . well, not moral. We are different in _so_ many ways, it's just human nature to not accept what is alien. If you saw a giant, slimy one-eyed creature with long bloody teeth eating its dinner, would you go up to it and ask if it wants to be friends, or will you want to avoid such a creature?"

Ganondorf thought for a while and then said, "But Jennie, that creature seems dangerous, plus it's eating. Everyone knows to stay away from a wild animal when it's eating. We're people, just like them."

"The Hylians fear us. Even though we're people."

"Why? What makes them so afraid? They don't even know us."

"And that's why they are afraid."

"Then why can't we go there, and show them that we don't want to hurt them. Why can't we talk to their king?"

"They won't let us."

"How do you know? Have you tried?"

"Ganondorf, they would shoot you if you keep insisting to see their king."

"But have you tried?"

"I won't let you go."

"But we have to try!"

"It's to dangerous for you to go."

"Jennie, I'm going. And you can't stop me. As your king, I order you to let me go."

Jennie was taken aback for a second. Ganondorf had never ordered anyone to do anything before, but he was getting older and he _was_ king. "Fine, but I'm going with you, and your taking like 20 others."

"10."

"15."

"Fine."

"We'll go next week."

"Tomorrow."

"Ganondorf," He gave her a look that said he wasn't budging. She sighed. "Ok, ok. But that means we have a lot of work to do."

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"Will?" Will was sprawled out on the hay mound inside the barn, a battered straw hat over his eyes, his mouth slightly opened. "Will!" The voice became more persistent. Will turned over and mumbled something. Getting aggravated, the speaker threw a rock at him.

Will shot up. "I WASN'T SLEEPING ON THE JOB AGAIN! I was just resting my eyes!"

He rubbed his eyes and looked around for the rock thrower so he could pound him.

"Will, it's me," came a whisper from behind the wall that separated the hay from the stalls.

"Daphnes?"

"Shh." Daphnes shushed him.

"What are you doing here?" Will said now in a more quieter voice. "I haven't seen you in like months!"

"Sorry. I've been busy,"

"Hey! Aren't you getting--"

"Yes! I know, I know, I know! Can you keep your voice down?"

"But what the hell are you doing in the barn then?"

"Sorry if I'm a little nervous THAT I'M GETTING MARRIED!"

"Shh, keep your voice down will ya? If that's the case why don't we step into my office." Will slung an arm around Daphnes' shoulder and lead him to his 'office' which was the hay pile that he was just sleeping on. He settled himself down as well. "Now refresh my memory. The last wedding was a disaster because . . ."

"Zelda got sick. I don't know if it was the sun or what but-"

"Oh yeah, yeah, yeah then she tossed her cookies."

Daphnes put his head in his arms. "All over her wedding dress. She was devastated and embarrassed. She locked herself in her room. Oh, it was horrible."

Will chuckled to himself, "I bet that would be a great story to tell the kids."

Daphnes groaned.

"Listen, the chances of that happening again are slim-"

"But what if she got sick because she dreaded marrying _me_! What if the thought of me being her husband was so disgusting that she threw up!"

Will sighed irritably. "What's with the drama queen thing going on? Relax, Zelda likes you, you like her, you already live in the same house- um palace. Smooth, take everything smoothly. You'll be fine."

"But Will, . . ." He paused.

"What?" Will said, a little annoyed that Daphnes found a "but" to make things even more difficult.

"I-I love her."

"That's usually the reason why people get married."

"But that's not the reason why _we're_ getting married. Were getting married for . . . political reasons."

"Well, does it really matter WHY you're getting married? The fact is, you are. And you love each other, so who cares?"

"_I _love her."

"You already said that."

"_I. _Not _her."_

"Oh that's good because she'd be really annoying if she was in love with herself."

"Will!"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Ok, did she say to your face that she does not love you?"

"No--"

"Then how do you know! You're overreacting . . . like always."

Daphnes sighed. "It's just--I don't know. . . . I don't want her to turn out like my mother, ok?"

"What's wrong with your mother?"

"I . . . don't really know." He kinda laughed to himself. "She's unhappy, I guess. She stares out the window . . . for hours. Doing nothing. And then my father comes in and she acts all happy. But she _acts_ . . . it's all an act."

"Have you talked to Zelda about it?"

"Yes--kinda,"

Will raised an eyebrow.

"I asked her if she . . . liked me ok. If she was ok with marring me."

"And . . ."

"And she said she was quite fond of me."

"Well there you go."

"Will, she used the word 'fond!' What the hell is 'fond' supposed to mean!"

"I believed it meant having an affection or liking for until recently, when I was proved wrong by you. What's wrong?"

Daphnes returned his face to his arms. "I just don't want her to be unhappy."

Will shook his head and smiled. "Man, you _are_ a drama queen. Maybe you should try to be the Queen and Zelda can be King. Every time I see Zelda she seems to be happy as a peach to me, always smiling."

"You really think so?"

"I don't think. I know."

"You sure don't think."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

Daphnes snorted.

"I never do anything wrong."

"I beg to differ."

"Name one time."

"You got Rosie pregnant."

"Hey, we're married now!"

"_Now_ you are."

"That whole incident was _not_ my fault!"

"Whose fault was it?"

Will crossed his arms stubbornly "Rosie's."

"Will, it takes two people to-"

"FIRST, she got me drunk, secondly, _she_ attacked _me_!"

Daphnes sighed, "whatever."

"You think you have it rough! I had to propose to an ANGRY MOOD-SWINGING PREGNANT WOMAN OR FACE PENALTY OF DEATH FROM HER FATHER!"

Will calmed down a bit before continuing. "But I was responsible, and didn't whine and complain like you did. I took the whole thing smoothly."

_Flashback_

_Rosie came rushing in with tears in her eyes. "Will, I'm pregnant!"_

"_No, you're not."_

"_But Will I really-"_

"_No."_

"_Will!"_

"_No, you ain't."_

"_Will, listen to me!"_

"_NO! You are _not_ pregnant!"_

_Rosie stopped and crossed her arms, giving him a steady glare. Will looked at her starting to show belly._

"_Damn you're pregnant!"_

"_No really!" _

_End of flashback_

"I even built us a house," Will said, rather proud of himself. "Me, Rosie and the baby couldn't all fit in Mr. Jones' house."

Daphnes looked at Will impressed. "Yeah, you're right, Will. I need to stop complaining and take things . . . um, 'smoothly'."

Will was still thinking. "'Course the first two fell down . . . but I'm confident that this house will last for the rest of the year!"

"Will, that's not a good thing. Do you need help with anything? Anything at all?"

Will waved his hand. "Naw, I'm all right. Rosie's a little wacked though. She's driving me crazy! Man I thought she had mood swings before . . . she'd get mad like that!" He snapped his fingers. "But now it's . . . it's . . ."

"It's what?"

" Daphnes, last night she _cried_! Rosie doesn't _cry!_"

"Do you know what about?"

"She-she thought that the only reason I married her was because she's pregnant . . . and that I don't really love her . . . and I'm not going to be able to take care of my family even if I tried. That I'm just not ready. And eventually . . . I'm just gonna leave her there with the baby all by herself."

"Will . . ."

"I'm not gonna do that! I _can't_ do that! I don't know what put that in her head, but if we're gonna starve, we'll starve together."

"Will, seriously. If you need help, I can help you."

"Sorry, Daphnes. Must'a grabbed the drama queen's crown by accident. Been 'round you too much. We're ok, really. Must be lack of sleep."

"Will!" A voice called from somewhere else in the barn.

"Oh crap! It's Rosie! Hide me!" He tried in vain to cover himself with hay.

"Why are you hiding from Rosie for?"

"Are you kidding? Who wouldn't? I was supposed to eat lunch with her today, but I'm here talking to you! She's gonna kill me and go weird on me again!"

"Oh Will! Where are you!" She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

Daphnes sighed. "Maybe you should tell her where you are. She seems pretty worried."

Will made an audible groan and got up. Daphnes got up too. When Rosie saw them, she waddled as fast as her pregnant belly could allow and flung her arms around Will "Oh Will, when you didn't come home for lunch I thought . . . I'm _so_ glad your safe! I love you!" Then she looked up at him and her eyes narrowed. She slapped him hard across the face. Mood swings were right.

"Um, ow," Will muttered, holding his cheek. "What happened to 'I love you'?"

"You jerk! You think it's easy taking care of the house like this? I've seen my sick grandfather make a better house then you can! And now I have to worry about you 'cause you're always late! And what were you doing? You were talking to some inconsiderate, stable- Oh merciful heavens, it's the Prince! I'm so sorry, Your Majesty." She began to curtsy. She was a good curtsyer. She could go so low it looked like her nose could touch the ground, but her swollen belly caused her to lose her balance. Luckily Will caught her and straightened her out. Slightly embarrassed that she couldn't do her most prided ability, she hit Will and told him to bow.

Will nodded his head a little, feeling weird that he was bowing to his best friend.

"No wait, it's ok. No offense taken. You don't have to bow or curtsy or anything. And you can call me Daphnes instead of Your Majesty. I should really be the one apologizing for stealing your husband from you." He took her hand and kissed it. Rosie giggled, obviously pleased. Will rolled his eyes.

Feeling all a suddenly jealous, Will blurted out "I'm sorry, Rosie!"

"For what? . . .Oh yeah! I should be the one that's sorry. I don't know what came over me. Must be the baby slowly sucking out my brain." She laughed and took his hand. That sounded like the old Rosie. Daphnes seemed to have put her in a good mood. He was trying to decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing, when Rosie said, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Daphnes."

"Actually before I go, I was wondering if you guys would like to come to my wedding today?"

"_Your_ wedding? The_ Prince's_ wedding?" Rosie nearly had a heart attack. Maids never went to noble weddings, least of the Royal Family's.

"Um . . . I_ think _so," Daphnes said with a smile.

"I don't know, Daph."

"What's the matter?"

"Well, it's just that princes don't invite maids and stableboys to their weddings."

"Hey if the guards throw you out, I'll personally fire them. I even have an invitation for you so that shouldn't happen." He dug in a hidden pocket and pulled it out. He gave the invitation to Will. It was a soft pink paper with gold letters.

"Oh, I guess it's ok. Mr. Jones would let me off work for something like this."

"Will! What will we wear!"

"What do you mean 'What will we wear!'? We will wear _clothes_. You know, the things on your body?"

"Will, you can't go to the wedding, wearing a pair of overalls!"

"What's wrong with my overalls?"

"Or that hat."

"What's wrong with my hat?"

"And wash your face."

"What's wrong with my face!"

"It's dirty and disgusting." She snatched the invitations from him and started reading it. "This thing starts at three? We'll never be ready by then!"

"Three? Daph, shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Shi-crap!" Princes don't swear. . . . At least not in public. "You're right! Gotta go! See you guys later!" Daphnes sprinted as if his life depended on it.

"I liked him," sighed Rosie. "He was cute . . . even kind of hot, AND charming."

"Um, hello! Remember? Me, the thing in your stomach, me, the ring around your finger, _me!_"

"No, not really. All that's kinda fuzzy." She put her finger to her chin thinking hard. "Though I do remember this . . . moron. He looked a lot like you."

"Ha. Ha. Isn't that funny? Maybe if I beat you, you'll remember." He pulled her closer to him.

"Maybe."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zelda looked at herself in the full length mirror, while her nursemaid started to lace up her bodice. "You're so awfully thin, Your Majesty." She chuckled to herself. "Better then being plump like me, eh? Heh, heh. So beautiful," she murmured.

Zelda continued to stare at the mirror. She was thin, almost sickly thin, but she had always been that thin. Her skin was white as milk, matching the lace of her dress that was still in the corner. Her hair was pale gold, recently brushed, but still free, falling in her eyes. She brushed it away. Her face had grown into a thing a beauty. Her lips full, eyebrows elegant, ears long, but it was her eyes that seem to haunt her. Palest blue, that's what Daphnes called them. They seem to know something, yet questioning, and very, very sad.

"Princess? Is there something wrong?"

Zelda blinked. "Oh. No, of course not. Everything is fine."

"Nervous?" The nursemaid asked with a smile.

Zelda smiled back. "Maybe a bit."

"Ay, aren't we all? At least he's handsome."

Zelda sighed. "Daphne . . . is wonderful. I am quite happy with him." Then she added with a wry grin, "Though he does complain a lot. He's awfully paranoid and not very kingly for a prince."

The nursemaid laughed. "Are you planning on ruling the country, instead of Daphnes, when you become queen?"

"I've been planning a lot for a long time, but that fool of a king won't ever take me seriously. He thinks little girls should stay in their bedchambers," she said bitterly. "I wish Daphnes would stand up to him at least once in awhile."

The nursemaid helpedZelda into her long white dress as Zelda continued. "Did you know there's a whole section of Hyrule Castle Town that is poor and filthy? I was appalled when I heard we couldn't afford to feed them! This dress, for example, could probably feed a country!"

The dress was white lace with a green satin border and green sash. The long overskirt split down the middle to reveal an underskirt that was threaded with beads. The sleeveless bodice was crowned with green rhinestones that matched the green emerald that Daphnes gave her. She always felt better with it on. She remembered last time, her dress didn't match with the green emerald and she hadn't worn it. That day was a disaster. She quickly discarded the memory.

"Your majesty," breathed the nursemaid. "You're absolutely breathtaking."

Zelda looked up from her thoughts at the nursemaid. "Thank you, Carlina."

"Do try to smile. You only get married once, or so in theory."

Zelda smiled.

"That's better! Now, let me do your hair."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I have nothing to wear!" Rosie was going crazy at her old closet at her father's house. She hadn't been able to bring everything she owned to her new house yet. "I can't fit into any of these things anymore! I'm fat!"

"You're not fat, Rosie. You're pregnant," Will said impatiently, looking out the window.

"Yes! And it's all your fault!" Rosie looked like she was about to rip his throat out with her teeth. Will was trying to figure out a way to escape. Rosie's father was in the other room, so that plan was out. He couldn't stay here. Rosie and Daisy would somehow kill him and if he tried to defend himself at all, they'd just call their father. He was thinking about squeezing out through the window when Daisy drew Rosie's attention away from him.

"Oh my sister!" Daisy put her arms around Rosie. "I told you. You should have stayed away from that awful man!"

Will sighed. He just _loved _Rosie's family.

"He _is _awful, isn't he?" sniffed Rosie.

Yep, just feeling the love here.

"What am I gonna do! I can't go like this!" She slapped her arms to her sides. "I look like some freakin' crap that a dog dragged in!" She wailed into her sister's chest.

Will rolled his eyes. Anything he said would just backfire anyway.

"Rosie! What if I and the other girls make you a new dress?"

"We don't have time! We only have an hour and a half!"

"I bet we could do it if we start now, and all five of us help."

"Ok, we can try," Rosie started to compose herself again.

Great, thought Will. More of Rosie's ever-so-caring sisters.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Rosie's sisters rushed to make Rosie 'decent' Will was shooed to the living room . . . with Rosie's father. They sat across from each other in silence, Mr. Moor glaring at him like he had done something wrong. What had he done wrong? Ok. He didn't want that question answered.

"So," Mr. Moor said, breaking the silence. "How are . . . _things?_"

"Fine." His voice was unusually high and squeaky. He really wished Rosie would hurry up. Then again, why was he afraid of a 55 year old man? . . . Because he was Rosie's dad and he was scary. Rosie_ must_ have gotten her violent temper from him, 'course Rosie hadn't been violent since she gotten pregnant. He kinda missed it. It was better then the tears and crap.

"Good."

"Huh?" What was good? He forgot what the question was.

"Good that things are fine."

"Oh yeah."

"Built a house?"

"Yeah."

"That's good too. How's the job?"

"Well horse crap doesn't get picked up on it's own! HAHA . . . ha . . . ha. Rosie!" He saw Rosie come out of the room she had been in. He immediately shot up and walked toward her. "You look . . . really nice."

She did. She wore a green dress that had been ruined then fixed up again. The seems had been redone to adjust the size a bit. It didn't hide that she was pregnant, but showed it off in a proud way, and her hair was pulled away from her face and put into curls. She smiled.

"You ready to go?" He had been ready a long time ago.

"Almost." She took of Will's hat and combed his hair.

"Hey! What are you? My mother?"

"You could have used one." Will stood there with a frown on his face while Rosie had a losing battle trying to keep his hair down.

"Ok. That's good."

"Wait!" She licked her finger and wiped a smudge of dirt of his face.

"'Kay, stop." He grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go."

"Bye, Papa! Bye, Daisy! Bye, Ivy! Bye, Fern! Bye, Holly! Bye, Buttercup!"

"Rosie! Come on!" He started to pull Rosie away.

"What's the matter Will?" Rosie said with a wicked smile. "Don't you want to say goodbye to my family? I'm sure they'll love it."

"We're gonna be late, that's the matter!"

Rosie smiled as her husband dragged her away.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The wedding was to be held at the Temple of Time, the church at Hyrule Castle Town. Though it was a public church, but on the occasional times when it was needed by the Royal Family in was closed off to only the nobles or who was invited until the church wasn't needed anymore. Not only was it the only church in Hyrule Castle Town, but it was tradition that the Prince would marry his Princess there, since the first descendants of the Royal Family had it built. It actually started when a priest walking by claimed he saw the Goddesses themselves at that very spot. He told the first King of Hyrule, (Well, technically, he was only King of the Hylians, for Hyrule was divided up by the other races, and much of the land had not been explored yet. It still was, but if went by a Hylian history book it is said that the Hylians had owned Hyrule then, and ever since. Much dispute has gone over this statement. Anyway . . .) He told the first King, and insisted that the temple was built on the holy land. Soon after, the Palace was built nearby (though had been added on to since) and the first Prince of Hyrule (if you could call it Hyrule then,) was married to his Princess.

Basically, the reason why Daphnes was standing in the small, hot, crowded temple, was because that's what everyone else did. It was tradition for the Royal Family to get married there, instead of maybe outside, were there was a cool breeze and a whole lot more room. Don't get him wrong. The temple was beautiful. Humble looking on the outside, but absolutely breathtaking in the inside. White stone that sparkled from the sunlight that slipped through the large windows. The Temple had something in the air that made you sure, that somehow, this place was special. It gave a sense of peace. But it was small, with only one room with an altar. It was a place you would want to come to alone to think, worship or meditate. Not to have a big fancy royal wedding. Everyone was hot, sweaty and starting to get annoyed with each other. Women would step on men's feet with their high heeled shoes, or men would step on women's dresses. No one was really smiling. The nobles were never really smiling . . . at least not in public, for as far as Daphnes had seen.

The great doors of the temple burst open and the piano started to play (the rather large piano that was moved to the temple for the sole purpose of the wedding, and taking up more space). But it turned out not to be the bride but someone Daphnes couldn't recall his name, holding up his hands. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly. "You will have to wait a few minutes. We've lost one of the bridesmaids. Thank you for your time."

Everyone groaned, including Daphnes. This room, filled with fancily-dressed people packed like sardines, was a civil war waiting to happen.

A second later, the man shook his head. "All better, the bridesmaid has been found." How he knew this, Daphnes had no clue.

The doors opened a second time. The piano started to play, but then stopped again, for once again, it was not Zelda. The pianist threw her arms up in the air in frustration. It was actually Will and Rosie, late as usual. Will waved hugely to Daphnes and stood on his toes so he could be seen, though he was hard to miss already. "DAPHNES!" Will's voice echoed through the silent room.

Daphnes shyly waved back at him, smiling for the first time since . . . he last saw Will, but that smile quickly faded with a look from the priest. The priest had an expression that look like he just hated the world. Ok, people _did _know this was a wedding, right? Not a funeral. Will's frantic waving had hit a bald unsmiling noble, who's glared looked like he was about to bite Will's head off at any moment. Fortunately, Rosie grabbed Will by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him back to earth. She apologized to the man and gave him her most charming smile, that even he had to smile back. Then she led Will away like a mother leads a naughty child. Daphnes though he heard her mutter, "For Din's sake Will, we're in public!"

Daphnes started to grow nervous. It was hot, very hot. It was hot enough to get someone sick, especially someone who was nervous before her wedding. What if Zelda didn't come? What if she got sick again? Daphnes bit his lip. He had to stop. He was being paranoid . . . again. He had to stop doing that. Then again, where was Zelda?

The doors opened once again. Daphnes shut his eyes, hoping with all his might that it was Zelda and dreading that it might be someone else. He opened them.

The light from behind her made her golden hair--which has half tied up in buns and braids with the rest down--glow. She had green leaves in her hair that sparkled with the green in the dress and in her necklace. Her veil trailed behind her with her long gown. Her pale eyes were glued onto Daphnes, the end of her journey down the aisle.

As Princess Zelda entered the temple, the nobles finally began to smile. The people loved their princess. She was always pleasant, kind and so pretty. The pianist gave a little start when she realized that this time it really was the Princess and started to play.

Daphnes felt a swarm of pride. He was about to marry this beautiful woman, but that pride soon turned to panic. Sweet Goddesses, he was getting married! This thought led him to think about his feelings for her, that soon led him to thinking about her feelings for him. She never seemed to talk about her feelings. Daphnes, he was a talker. Zelda, she was more of an ask-me-questions-and-I'll-give-you-vague-answers-that'll-drive-you-crazy kind of person. Daphnes started to sweat, then he realized he was sweaty before from the heat. It was really, really hot. How long had he been there? Why was Zelda walking so slow down the aisle! Why was he being paranoid? What was wrong! Nothing!

Zelda smiled at him, and he began to ease up. She continued down the aisle when all of a sudden, a small child, no more then three, fell in front of the Princess.

Everything stopped and all the people stared. People didn't insult the Royal Family, (well at least not to their faces) and if one did it by accident they were doomed to be sent to the dungeon. Upsetting the Royal Family's wedding surely must have its consequences. Nobody moved. The mother of the child must have abandoned him to his fate, for no one came for him. The child started to cry and the guests all winced as the loud noise echoed though the room.

But the Princess just smiled. She bent down to the child, which must of been hard considering the dress she had on. The kid stopped crying in stared at her with frightened eyes. "Hey, if I give you a peppermint, will you smile for me?"Zelda asked. The boy smiled shyly and nodded his head. She pulled out one from a secret pocket in her dress. She had secret pockets in all her dresses just for her peppermints. She liked to suck on them when she was nervous. She actually had one in her mouth right now, under her tongue. A nasty habit for a princess, but it reminded her of home. She gave the peppermint to the boy. "Come here, baby." She picked him up. "Does this belong to anyone? " she asked the crowd.

The shy mother slowly came up to claim her son. "Thank you," she murmured.

Zelda smiled, "It's ok, really." She motioned the pianist to continue and she walked the rest of the way to Daphnes.

"You feeling all right?" Daphnes asked her softly.

"Quite well, thank you, Daphnes."

The Priest started to speak, but Daphnes tuned him out. Soon, Zelda would be his wife. He would be spending a lot more time with Zelda. It wouldn't be like seeing her once a day like it had been . . . in public. Now they would be eating all their meals together, sitting on the throne together, maybe making decisions together . . . sharing the same room together!

Zelda's face was expressionless and unmoving as porcelain as she listened to the priest drone on. What went on in that pretty little head of hers? He wished that she give _some_ indication that she felt the same way as he did, . . . or didn't feel the same way.

"Your majesty," The Priest said irritably.

"What?"

"Do you, Prince Daphnes of Hyrule, take Princess Zelda of Hyla to be you wife?"

Oh, yeah," Daphnes said stupidly.

The Priest looked at him with distaste. Who answers that question with "Oh, yeah?" He turned to the Princess. "And do you, Princess Zelda of Hyla, take Prince Daphnes of Hyrule to be your husband?"

"I do." She was smiling. Apparently she thought him not paying attention was funny. At least it was he who put the smile there.

The priest raised his arms dramatically. His long sleeves almost like wings. "By the power invested to me from the three Goddesses, I pronounce you man and wife! Kiss the bride!" The priest wanted to get this over with.

Daphnes hesitated, he had never actually kissed Zelda before. Well there were the few ones on the hand when saying hello or the ones on the cheek when saying goodbye, but not on the lips. Zelda looked at him with her mesmerizing eyes. There was a tiny frown on her perfect lips. Daphnes suddenly realized he was standing there like an idiot. He quickly kissed her on the corner of the mouth and pulled back hastily. Everyone clapped and there was a _very_ loud whoop, that Daphnes guessed to be Will, and sure enough, when he looked in their direction he could see Rosie slapping Will in the back of the head for being an idiot.

Zelda was looking at her hands, still with the frown on. Was she disgusted by him? Or maybe she was disappointed? Daphnes sighed. Was it always going to be like this

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rosie gaped at all the food. There were miles and miles of it, on three long, long tables. Every possible dish you could imagine. Things Rosie had never seen or heard of . . . and she was starving. Where to start?

She picked up a finger sandwich with some kind of meat in it. It tasted somewhat slimy and salty. Whatever it was, it was very tender. She closed her eyes, enjoying the taste.

"Do you like?" asked an unfamiliar voice. She nodded her head in pure bliss before remembering her manners. She open her eyes and swallowed.

"Yes, very much thank you." She smiled when she found the speaker. He was a dashing young man, with dark hair slicked back from his face. Someone of obvious nobility, and she didn't have to curtsy to him!

He smiled charmingly at her. "And do you know what you eating?"

Rosie blushed. "I'm afraid I don't."

"Octopus."

"Octopus?"

He gave a gesture with his eyes to something on the table. Rosie looked to the dish right next to where she had taken her sandwich from, and lo and behold, on it was a fully stuffed octopus. Rosie almost squealed in fright, almost.

"Oh can't have seen how I could've missed _that!_"

"I don't see how I could have ever missed _you_ before," He said flirtatiously, his face leaning toward her.

Ok. This guy obvious hadn't seen her swollen belly. The tables were a little high, maybe that was blocking his view. Or maybe he was so mesmerized by her beautiful eyes, that he hadn't noticed. She'd go with that one. Cool.

"I don't go to the parties much."

"But why not," he said with a little pout on his face. "Are we not worthy enough to be graced with your radiant beauty?" His voice was like velvet.

She smiled her most charming smile. "My name's Rosie."

"Rosie!" Will came up behind her grabbing her arm. "I've been lookin' all over fur ya! . . .who the hell is this?"

"Will, that's not very nice." She said quietly to him. "This is- I'm sorry, I don't believe you have given your name." She was slightly irritated at Will's rude question, but the man was smiling and seem to think it was amusing.

"I am Frederick Alexander Worthington the 5th," he said with pride.

"Ah . . . yeah." Will crossed his arms and glared at Frederic-what's-his-butt-face.

.Rosie elbowed him in warning.

"And who may you be?"

"Will," Rosie said rather quickly.

"Yeah, her _husband_." Will took her arm again.

Rosie saw the man's eyebrows go up and for some strange reason she felt a surge of pride of Will's jealousy and the little dispute. "Will, have you tried this?" She held up the half-eaten sandwich. Better to act as innocent as possible. "It's octopus."

"Rosie, I-octopus!" Rosie gestured to the dead octopus. "Ew, Rosie, we have to go."

"Go where?" But Will was ignoring her, glaring at Frederick. "Will?"

"Come on Rosie, _Daphnes_ wants you to meet _Zelda_," He said trying to show that he knew the Royal couple personally. He proceeded to lead his wife away, but he ran into a table, because he had still been glaring at Frederick. Rosie snickered.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daphnes and Zelda were greeting their guests. They were almost down, and Daphnes was wondering how they could have possibly missed Will and Rosie. Unless, of course they had come though a different entrance, for they were now in the Ball Room and there were many entrances, but why would they do that? Probably to escape the traffic. A wave of disappointment crashed over him when he realized they might not have come at all.

"Boo."

Daphnes jumped three feet in the air. "Holy crap!" He tuned around to see Will holding Rosie's hand, who was staring, wide-eyed, at Zelda

"Will," Zelda breathed. "I haven't seen you in ages!" She pulled Will into a warm embrace. Daphnes was surprised, Rosie was surprised, but most of all Will was surprised.

Daphnes finally decided that Zelda's actions weren't significant and to stop worrying about every little thing she did. The problem though, is that worrying was just Daphnes' thing.

With one hand still holding Rosie's, Will took his free hand and gently patted her on the back. "Hey, Zel."

She pulled back so she could see him at arms length. "Wow, Will, look how tall you are! You're about two feet taller then the last time I saw you." She cupped his chin in her hands. "You didn't turn out half bad-looking." Will felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. She was beautiful. Her marble skin was like a statue. The only thing giving away that she wasn't a statue, were her eyes. Her eyes were studying every detail of him. For a moment, Will was sure she was about to kiss him, but she turned her focus away from him. "This must be your wife!"

Rosie's face was just like her name, jealousy rising up like fire. Zelda took her hand. "Rosie? Isn't it? Oh, you look so beautiful tonight!" At first, Rosie thought Zelda must be joking. Seriously, a goddess like Zelda couldn't possibly think _she_ was pretty, but there was sincerity in Zelda's eyes. Maybe Rosie had jumped to conclusions to fast. Maybe Zelda wasn't that bad. "When are you expecting?" Zelda asked with a smile.

Rosie blushed. "I don't know, not long now. A month or two."

"I can't wait! Do you have any ideas for names yet?"

"I was thinkin," Will interrupted with a smile, "William Jr."

Rosie looked at him for a while before saying, "No. Besides, it's gonna be a girl anyway."

"How do you know!"

"I'm a mother. I know these things."

"Ok, how 'bout this," Will put his arms up in the air. "Willamena!"

Rosie covered her face with her hands. "Willamena is a _horrible_ name."

Will sighed. "Yeah, you're right." He put his arm around Rosie's shoulder. "That's why it's gonna be a boy."

Rosie's eyes narrowed. "Girl."

"Boy."

"_Girl._"

"_Boy._"

"GIRL!"

Zelda started to giggle and they stopped. Will opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the clinking of a spoon on a goblet. The entire room fell silent.

"The bride and groom–" the noble speaking gave Daphnes a dirty look, and he realized he'd messed up in some way or another . . . or the noble just hated him. A lot nobles seem to hate him. Maybe because he was the Prince–"will now have their first dance as a married couple."

As the dance floor cleared, and they stepped closer to each other, Daphnes whispered, "I have a feeling we did something wrong."

"I don't know," Zelda replied, placing her slim hand in his. "Your parents will know. I'm sure they'll talk all about it, never stopping." He looked at her and was relieved to see a smile on her face.

"Will you excuse us," Zelda said to Will and Rosie. Daphnes led Zelda to the dance floor, their gloved fingers hardly touching each other. The piano started slow and softly and Daphnes and Zelda gracefully twirled around each other, each lost in their own thoughts.

"So, what do ya think of Zelda? She's something isn't she?" Will said to Rosie.

"Yeah, she's something," Rosie said sarcastically. Will didn't seem to hear. So they stared at the dancing couple. Eventually Rosie said, "It's like a fairytale."

"What?"

"Daphnes and Zelda, they're like a fairytale. They're beautiful."

Silence.

Then, "Are we gonna make it, Will?"

He took her hand. "Of course we will."

Then how come she wasn't sure?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daphnes and Zelda danced, and danced and danced. Daphnes could feel the sweat on his brow. Zelda didn't look at all sweaty. Daphnes briefly wondered if Zelda _could_ sweat when he spotted Will and Rosie. They weren't dancing. Will looked happy about that fact as he stuffed his face with food, while Rosie looked longingly at the dace floor. This got him to think of their financial problems. He hadn't believed Will was telling him the whole truth. He tended to leave things out when things looked bad. Maybe he would get more out of Rosie.

"Zelda?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you mind if I asked Rosie to dance? I need to talk to her."

"Dancing with another woman, that is of no relation to you, so soon after you're married?"

"NO! No, no. I mean yes! It's not like that! I need to talk to her about financial . . . stuff."

Zelda laughed. "I was just kidding! Sure, go ahead."

Daphnes sighed in relief that she wasn't at all offended.

"I'm sure Will can keep me entertained while you're gone."

For the briefest of moments, a bad thought went through Daphnes head, but he quickly squashed it. He had other issuers to deal with.

The couple stopped dancing and headed over to where Will and Rosie were. "Hey guys!" Will said, looking up from his plate. " . . . I mean, and Lady." He nodded to Zelda. "Tired of the dance floor yet?"

"Actually, I was wondering if Rosie would like to dance?"

Rosie looked up from staring into space. "Oh, I couldn't. Not like this." She gestured to her swollen stomach.

Daphnes took her hand and looked into her eyes. "It doesn't have to be something fancy. I would like to talk to you."

His gray eyes looked very tempting, and she was sure it would be more fun then watching Will eat. "Ok, but not too fancy."

Will gaped as he watched Daphnes led his wife to the dace floor. Talk about _what?_ "Hello Will."

Will jumped about a foot. "Zelda!"

"Since Daphnes is _obvious_ occupied, I was wondering if you like to have a dance with me until he's done with Rosie."

"You mean like waltz . . . on the dance floor . . . with you!"

"I'm pretty sure that's what I meant. Don't tell me you can't dance?" Zelda said with amusement in her eyes.

"Oh I can dance! Just not . . . waltz." He said the word as if it was a contagious disease.

"It's not that hard." Zelda was already leading him to the dance floor. "You just have to count in threes. You can count in threes, right?" she asked with a smile.

Will rolled his eyes. "You can count in threes, right?" he said in a mocking voice.

Zelda laughed. "Now, with one hand you lead." She took his left hand. "And you put your other on my waist."

"On your waist?" His voice almost cracked. He had a brief thought of Rosie pounding him into a pulp, before he found her and Daphnes in the same position a little way off.

Zelda put her other hand on his shoulder. "Ok, now just do what I do, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, tree."

"One, two, three, one, two, three," Will muttered nervously to himself. He looked at his feet, partly to make sure he wouldn't step on Zelda's feet, and partly because he thought if he looked at Zelda's eyes, he wouldn't be able to look away.

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Some little ways off, Daphnes was dancing with Rosie. They were just swaying back and forth, for Rosie didn't think she could take the long, graceful strides of a waltz. She felt strangely clumsy besides the beautiful Nobles. She had always thought herself graceful, but now she was heavy-pregnant-lady. She was always good at dancing . . . well before. "Are you having a good time?" asked Daphnes, interrupting her thoughts.

"Oh, yes. This is a beautiful reception."

"So how are things?" Daphnes asked casually, working up to the topic of concern.

"Things are fine, thank you."

"Your probably off work since the baby . . ."

Rosie raised an eyebrow. "Yes."

"Well how's the house?" Daphnes asked quickly. "I heard Will built one. You never know. It might fall down or something."

"It was still standing last time I checked," Rosie said cooly.

"Listen," Daphnes said seriously. "I know you've been having a hard time, and if you need anything, anything at all, I can help you. I'm sure my father will let me if he knew it was for Will's family-"

"Excuse me, _Your Majesty_. Will and I may not be rich, educated, or perfect, but we sure damn well take care of ourselves! Will and I _have_ made are mistakes, Your Majesty, and we will pay for them like everyone else in Hyrule Market Town should. We _don't_ need your damn charity! Now if you will excuse me, Your Majesty, I feel a headache coming and would like to stop." She nodded her head in goodbye and stormed away.

That didn't go the way Daphnes expected. He looked over to Will who was dancing with Zelda. Will was so going to kill him. He couldn't remember a time when Will had gotten angry with him, he thought hopefully, but changes were always happening.

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"So, what kind of dancing do you do, Will?"

"You know," He gave a vague gesture with his head. "Down at the club. Let lose. It's not really . . . anything." Why did he sound so stupid? "I'd show you but I'd probably ram ya into somebody. Rosie's more of the dancer. I'm just the dancing partner."

"I'm sure you a very good dancer. It seems really fun."

"It is, but it's not anything like this. Not sophisticated."

"Waltzing must be boring to you, Will, compared to what you're used to."

"No, it's nice. It gives ya time to think and it's kinda relaxing. When we're at the club, it's crazy. I have to remember to catch Rosie here, don't ram Rosie into that person there, stay away from Herald 'cause I owe him money . . ."

Zelda laughed. "You're rather funny, Will."

"Me, Funny? Naw, I'm the most serious person you'll ever meet. I make Daphnes looked like a buffoon."

Zelda laughed again. "You know, Will? I feel just awful about what happened to you 13 years ago. I wish I could have known you better."

"Ah, it's ok. Wasn't your fault. Besides, the horses like me better then the people at the palace."

"I like you." Will found himself staring at her eyes again. They were so . . . mesmerizing.

"You could come down to the barn, if you like. Ride and stuff." It came out in a whisper.

Zelda looked at the ground slightly embarrassed, breaking the connection. "Actually, I don't know how to ride."

"Don't know how to ride!"

"My Governess says that horses are too dangerous for . . . my condition."

"Not all horses are like that. In fact that there's this sweet little mare down at the barn. She'd be perfect for you."

"But I don't know how-"

"I'll teach ya. She's so tame you could shove a stick up her butt and she won't kick!"

Zelda let out a snort of laughter at the thought and turn bright red at the sound. "Excuse me."

Will grinned. "For what? Laughin'? You should laugh like that more often. Don't want to turn into Daphnes."

Zelda smiled up at Will, once again mesmerizing him with her eyes. "Thank you, Will," she whispered.

"For what?" he whispered back.

"The riding lessons."

"Yeah."

"Will?"

"Yeah?"

"I believe the dance is over."

"What? Oh yeah, the dance!" They stopped and Will felt his face get hot. "Well, I better go find Rosie." As he thought of Rosie and Daphnes guilt swarmed over him, making him feel sick.

"Yes."

Will searched the dance floor and found Daphnes alone. He went over to him and Zelda followed.

"Will!" Daphnes had anguish in his expression.

"What's the matter?"

"I got Rosie mad at me!" He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm such an idiot! I'm so sorry Will." Daphnes looked pathetically sad.

"Don't worry about it Daphnes, Rosie gets mad at everybody."

"Maybe you should go look for her."

"Naw, let her cool off."

"Ok."

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Will stayed around Daphnes for a while before he decided to look for Rosie. Also Daphnes meant Zelda, and Will didn't trust himself around Zelda. He found her by the food, the farthest table

Rosie felt sick. She saw the way Will looked at Zelda. Who could blame 'im? Zelda was gorgeous. She really needed a drink, but remembered she couldn't because she was pregnant. So at the food court she was. She was starving anyway.

He thoughts went back to Will. Her family did warn her about him, but she always thought they were being over protective. Will was . . . a man after all. She sighed in irritation, but no matter how hard she tried to hate him, she couldn't. She was hopelessly in love with him. That made her angry at herself for being so pathetic. Then she let her mind slip to the food and forget time.

Once she was through her 3rd trip to the bathroom and not hungry enough to eat anymore she just stood by the table, until she felt strong arms wrap around her a face press against her neck.

"Hey."

"Hey." She sighed and leaned against Will. He proceeded to kiss her neck and down to her shoulder.

"I love you," he murmured.

"Really?" She asked with a dry laugh. "And how much have you had to drink?"

He rested his forehead on her shoulder. "I can't remember."

"Always a positive sign."

"Are you mad at me?" Will traced his fingers along her swollen belly.

"No, I'm not mad at you."

He sighed and buried his face in her hair. "That's good . . . Are you mad at a Daphnes?"

"A little but I'll forgive him."

"What's the matter then?"

"Will," She turned around to face him. "I love ya baby, seriously I do, but I can't help feeling I'm gonna lose you."

"Rosie, your not gonna lose me, ok?" He looked into her eyes to make sure she knew he was serious. "I'm staying right here."

To Will's surprised Rosie kissed him passionately, something she hadn't done in forever. She broke it off.

"Rosie, I promise I'm gonna make this work. Now that I don't rent with Mr. Jones anymore, I'm gettin' pay now, enough to get food everyday."

"But Will, once the baby is born . . . will it be enough?"

"If it ain't, then I'll work a second job. There's only so much I can do at the stable, maybe I can help deliver for Mr.-" Rosie kissed him again, longer then the first.

"Baby, I'll love ya for an eternity."

"Let's go."

"Will," she said rather flatly. "You're not taking me to the closet, again."

"No, I mean let's go home. It's getting late and I think you should get some rest. Just looken' out for ya. I just want to say goodbye to Daphnes first."

"And Zelda?"

"Zelda?"

Rosie sighed. "I'll come with you."

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The Gerudo sat noisily around the tables in the cafeteria. The cafeteria could have easily been the biggest room in the Fortress. It had to hold all the Gerudo (not counting the guards of course) every day at mealtime, which was at the beginning of the day. What was for breakfast? Leever. Not really filling, not really nutritious, and not really tasty, but there were just enough of them out for the Gerudo to have one small meal a day. Sometimes if they were lucky, they'd get some meat if they could catch it but not many animals survived in the desert.

The room was big enough to hold about 400 people, the average population of the Gerudo, until recently. In the last 13 years, that average had dropped to 300 people. At one of the long wooden tables, Nabooru sat with the others of her age group, picking at their meal and talking.

"Looks like the King is finally doing something about our problem." Krea looked smugly at Nabooru, and Nabooru didn't know why. Krea always looked smugly at Nabooru and she thought it rather annoying.

"It's about time," answered Nieesha, taking Krea's attention from Nabooru. "If you asked me, he should have done something years ago."

"Well nobody asked you!" Krea snapped. She put her arm around Nabooru. "I was talking to Nabooru."

Oh boy. This can't be good. Krea never liked Nabooru. Nabooru couldn't see why. She was the best at everything! Everyone should admire her and worship her! What's not to like?

"You know," said Nieesha, angry now. "How would you like me to stuff some of this Leever up your nose? Maybe then you'll at least have _something_ to serve as a brain."

Krea was too angry to speak. "Food fight!" Yasha said with excitement as a piece of Leever flew though the air toward Nieesha.

"Guys, stop it! This is the only meal we get. I for one don't want to waste it in a petty food fight!" Aria said, holding Niesha's arm before she could fling something back at Krea.

"I for one," Yasha said mockingly. "Think Aria is a know-it-all, butt brain."

"Hey!" Aria pointed a knife menacingly at Yasha. "I've hauled your moronic ass out of more trouble then I breathe hours in a day! I don't need any more of your idiocy!"

"Why am I here?" Kesha muttered to herself. She was sitting between Yasha and Aria and wished she wasn't.

Nabooru was usually part of the chaos but she was unusually quiet today which was not unnoticed by Krea. Joy.

"So . . . Nabooru, where were you yesterday instead of training?"

"I bet it was something really cool!" cut in Zea, who was listening to their conversation instead of fighting with the other three girls.

"Din! Can't you see I'm trying to have a conversation with Nabooru!"

"Oh . . . sorry." She moved over to talk to Kesha who was trying to read.

"Why would you want to know?" asked Nabooru suspiciously.

"Probably fell asleep outside again," Krea mumbled.

"It just so happens that I was sparring with the King himself." That got everybody's attention.

"Wow! Really?" asked Zea, who had giving up on talking to Kesha.

"She's lying! DUH! She always lies." Krea glared at Nabooru.

"Dare ya to ask the King himself if you don't believe me." Nabooru glared back at her.

"So how does the King fight?" asked Nieesha.

"Well, he is strong, that's obvious, but he's slow. Both in body and mind."

Nieesha laughed. "Only Nabooru would have the guts to say that."

"You really shouldn't say such things about the King," said Aria. "What if he finds out?"

Nabooru waved her off. "He won't find out. He's not even here. He eats in his room, remember? He's _way_ too good for us."

Yasha snorted. "He's right there." She pointed behind Nabooru.

Nabooru's back straightened. "No he's not!"

"Uh, yeah he is."

Nabooru whipped around in her seat. Sure enough, the King was following Jennie on the other side of the room. "Doesn't matter," she said. "He's too dumb to hear me anyway."

Aria just sighed.

Jennie made a piercing whistle that made the whole cafeteria silent. "By now, most of you should know of the King's plans." Her voice echoed through the stone walls. "Well, he's going to go talk to the King of Hyrule. Hopefully they can come up with an agreement and we won't be eating crap for meals anymore." There were a few cheers. "If all goes as planned, we will be able to trade with the Hylians. There has been a list of 15 people to go on to the journey. The journey will take three days. If your name is called, be ready to go at 6:00. We will not wait for you if you are late." She then proceeded to read off the list of names from a piece of paper.

Nabooru and the others boredly finished off the rest of their meal. Their generation were never assigned to do anything . . . except maybe kitchen duty. Nabooru _hated_ kitchen duty.

"Annika, Yazzman, Jessie, Tia, Terra, and Nabooru." Jennie finished the list.

All the girls snapped their heads up at the sound of Nabooru's name. Even Nabooru almost fell out of her chair. She checked to make sure Krea hadn't seen and was relieved that she was busy choking on her Leever.

"Wow!"

"What!"

"How?"

"The King must have recognized my _obvious_ talent." Nabooru studied her finger nails. "I'm _so_ talented that even _his_ thick skull saw it!"

"It's not fair!" Krea slammed her fist onto the table.

"I can't help being better then you."

"It's not fair! You skip classes and work all the time and when you don't, you're always late! You talk back to your elders, do what you're not supposed to do, say what you're not supposed to say, pick fights unnecessarily, and STILL you get to go, when no one else can!"

"Uh . . . I guess so! Too bad for you, Krea!" Nabooru said with an evil smirk. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready." She got up and left the cafeteria. Once she was out of earshot she gave a whoop. She was leaving the dessert for the first time in her life! A new culture, a new climate and just think about all the things! Of course if anyone knew she'd taken anything . . . bad, bad idea. Then she'd just won't get caught! That might be hard . . . she'd have to get past Jennie, Ganondorf, and her . . . mother. Maybe she should keep it safe. Damn. Oh well, at least Krea was pissed off.

After she had gotten her scimitars, she headed for outside. A hand stopped her.

"Nabooru."

"Mom! I won't be late if you let me go!"

"Nabooru, this is serious. We are headed for enemy territory. If all goes as planned, there shouldn't be any fighting. This is a peaceful mission, but still, just in case, it's your life for the King's. You hear?"

Nabooru rolled her eyes. "I hear, I hear. I won't let anything happen to our wuss of a king."

Yazzman raised an eyebrow. "And keep your mouth shut too."

Nabooru zipped her mouth shut. "Can we go now?" Yazzman shoved her forward in answer and they both went outside.

There were three horses, each packed with what little food they could bring and extra arrows (just in case). Nabooru thought for sure there used to be more horses. The King had his own of course. The Monstrous Beast From Hell, Nabooru liked to call it. Seriously, what grew to be that big? Yazzman had a horse so that she was level with Ganondorf, being his bodyguard and all, and the last horse, after much arguing, went to Jennie. She said she didn't need a horse, but the truth was she was old, about 63 now. She couldn't walk all the way to Hyrule Castle.

Nabooru didn't mind walking. She'd would've gotten stiff sitting on a horse that long anyway. To Nabooru's surprise, she was assigned to walk next to Ganondorf. Not only that but they brought out another horse for her that she didn't even know existed . . . like a bodyguard.

"Mom . . ."

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"I did not sign up to be the King's bodyguard!"

"Nope, I did."

"Just because you're his bodyguard doesn't mean I want to be!"

"Nabooru, you've had 13 years to figure out what you want to be. You don't know, so I chose for you. Relax. It's not permanent. It's for the sake of this mission."

Nabooru made an irritable sound. Now she'd have to ride next to the Monstrous Beast From Hell. It was gonna swallow her whole. She knew it! Jennie led the way, then came Nabooru, Ganondorf and Yazzman and behind them were two rows of six armed Gerudo. They were good to go.

"Hello, Nabooru." Ganondorf said rather brightly.

"Hmm," Nabooru was busy watching the Monstrous Beast From Hell chomp excitedly on its golden curb bit. "Ganondorf . . . I think your horse is trying to eat its bridle."

Ganondorf looked down at the horse. "Oh, he's just excited. He's never left the desert before."

"Well you never know. It might try to eat things . . . like bridles . . . saddles . . . people."

"Nabooru, he's just a horse."

"Horses get hungry!" she said stubbornly. Ganondorf sighed. The Monstrous Beast From Hell started to prance nervously, causing Nabooru to become even more nervous. Nabooru tried to calm down. Horses sensed fear . . . but then again, her horse was perfectly fine. Almost dead actually as it slowly walked along. Ganondorf must be the nervous one! "Are you nervous?" she asked smugly.

"Maybe a little." Just like that, he admitted it! What kind of a Gerudo was he?

"I can't believe it!"

"What?"

"My king, the King of all the Gerudo, is nervous!"

"Well like you said, I might 'get shish kabobed with like 50 arrows!'"

"Duh, but you're not supposed to admit it! Wait till I tell the girls! They'll be talking about it forever."

Ganondorf felt a wave of annoyance. "Why did I ask Jennie to bring you anyway?" he muttered.

So this was Ganondorf's idea. "'Cause of my obvious talent, striking beauty, my witty wise ass remarks . . . I could go on?"

"Hmm, bet you could." Truth was, she reminded him of Giselle.

Most of the journey was boring. Sometimes, Nabooru would talk to her mother when they set up camp but other then that there wasn't much talking. Nabooru wanting to make sure just because she was riding next to the King, didn't mean she liked him. They rode in silence a long time, enjoying the cool breeze and the grass. Nabooru had never seen grass before. She was surprised how green it was. On the third day they came to a sign. Jennie stopped to read it, then continued.

Nabooru punched Ganondorf to get his attention. "Hey Ganondorf, what does the sign say?"

"Why don't you just read it?" Ganondorf said annoyed that Nabooru hadn't said a word to him in forever.

"I can't. What does it say?"

"You can't read?" Ganondorf asked in surprised.

"No. _What_ does the sign say!" She was bouncing up and down from her horse. "I want to know how far we are!"

"Only a few miles. Nabooru, how come you never learned to read?"

"No one bothered to teach me I guess. I never really needed it anyway. Kesha can read. If I needed to know something I'd just ask her."

"Don't you want to read?"

"I don't know. I guess it could be cool . . . I don't think Krea can read. The more I know than her the better."

"I'll teach you."

"For what?" Nabooru asked suspiciously.

"Huh?"

"You'll teach me to read if I . . ." She waved her hands around vaguely.

"You don't have to do anything for me."

Nabooru sighed with frustration. "Ganondorf, you have to be the worst Gerudo EVER! You're way too damn nice."

"Um-"

"If you don't get anything for your work what's the point? You'll have nothing for your whole life if you just give and give and never take!"

"Then what do you want to do in exchange of me teaching you to read?"

"I don't know! You're the King of the Gerudo for Din's sake! _You_ tell me what you want!"

"Well, I want nothing, but you obviously don't want to give me that so you decide."

Nabooru thought for a minute. What could she give to the King that he didn't already have? She snapped her fingers. "I'll help you with your attitude problem!"

"I have an attitude problem?"

"A lack of one actually."

"You're going to teach me to be mean like you?"

"No, just more assertive, so people don't walk all over you . . . Hey, I'm _not_ that mean!"

"So is it a deal then?"

"I guess so."

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They came upon a large stone wall, surrounded by a moat. The drawbridge was up and people could be seen above the wall. There were a lot of them. All wore armor and were armed with at least one sword. They did not look happy. Ganondorf took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

"Wow, and I thought we were overprotective," muttered Nabooru. He ignored her.

"Halt! What are the likes of _Gerudo_ doing at Hyrule Castle Market Town?" The guard said with disgust.

"That's an annoying name for a place. Hyrule Castle Market Town . . . that's like, four freakin' words!"

"Nabooru," Ganondorf warned in a voice that sounded like her mother. He moved his horse ahead of the rest of the group so he could be easily seen. "I, The King of the Gerudo, command to speak with the King of the Hylians about the-"

"Yeah, yeah. You can't come in here."

"But-"

"You Gerudo are banned from Hyrule Castle Market Town for stealing, threatening the citizens, and other barbaric ways." He eyed the Gerudo women's 'unique' clothing.

"What 'barbaric ways'?" Yazzman asked, offended. "The Gerudo have a strict code that-"

"Keep your shirt on, lady!" the guard said in annoyance. "What's left of it, anyway" he added and winked at Yazzman.

"That's it. Nabooru, shoot 'im."

"Wait!" Ganondorf almost fell of his horse trying to get a hold of Nabooru's arms. "Please," he said to the guard. Nabooru rolled her eyes. "We came all this way . . ."

"Nope, not gonna work."

"We are not moving until you let us in," Ganondorf said stubbornly.

Another guard came over to the first one. "Hey, are these guys being a problem?"

"They won't leave," replied the first one tiredly.

"On order of the law, we command you to leave before we are forced to take action!" When nobody moved, all the guards raised their bows. This action caused all the Gerudo to raise their bows and Ganondorf felt his plan for a peaceful mission die a painful agonizing death.

"STOP!" Ganondorf's commanding froze all of them, including the guards. "For Din's sake can't we get along for 10 minutes!"

"Wait. You want us to lower our bows?" Yazzman asked, confused.

"Ah . . . YEAH!" He turned to the guard. "We desperately need to speak with the King. It's about life and death! I know we were horrible and you don't forgive us, yada yada, but that was _years_ ago! I wasn't even born yet! You can take our weapons. You can escort us. Hell, I'll even pay your weight in gold! Just let me speak with the King!"

"Hmm." The guard rested his elbow on the wall, in way that made Ganondorf want to shoot his head off. "Ok. We'll let you in, alone, with three escorts and weaponless." Ganondorf sighed in relief.

"Oh no he ain't!" Yazzman cut in. "I'm not letting him in there all by himself!"

The guard rolled his eyes. "Fine, one other, but there will be five escorts and she will be weaponless too. And we pick her."

Yazzman was going to explode, but she didn't say anything. The chances probably wouldn't get any better.

"That one, the little one." He pointed to Nabooru.

"What? I'm not little! And I'm not his bodyguard! Pick Yazzman!"

Yazzman practically pushed Nabooru off her horse. They had picked Nabooru because they thought her harmless since she was so young. If anything went wrong, they were in for a nasty surprise. "Nabooru, go with the King."

Ganondorf got off Shadow and gave his rains to Jennie. "Be careful," she whispered. He gave her a tired smile.

The drawbridge was lowered with a brain-wrenching creak. The guards still had their arrows pointed at the Gerudo in case any of them tried to rush in. Five new guards came to escort the two young Gerudo. Ganondorf gave them his scimitar and all the hidden knives that he remembered their location. He thought he might've missed a few, but he was in a hurry and he let it go.

Nabooru had a tough time giving up her swords. "I will get these back, right?"

The guard grunted in reply.

"In case I don't come back, will you remember to polish them at least once a day?"

"Nabooru, just give him the damn swords!" Ganondorf growled in frustration. Wow. Someone was bitter.

The guard took them and eventually Nabooru let her hands slip off the cool metal. "Goodbye . . ."

"Come on, Nabooru!" He grabbed her arm and stomped into the town.

The drawbridge closed.

"So . . ." The guard eyed the remaining Gerudo, Yazzman in particular. "I guess you will be staying here until they come back." There was silence as each Gerudo stood there expressionless. An evil grin spread across the guard's face. "So how _do_ the Gerudo reproduce?"

Yazzman buried her face in her horse's mane. "Jennie, just shoot him already. Or me. Anyone will do, but do it quick."

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They walked through the cobbled streets of Hyrule Castle Market Town. All the people hurriedly moved out of the way when they saw the guards coming. Once they noticed the two Gerudo, many of them ran to their homes and shops to lock the doors. Peering through windows, Ganondorf met the eyes of the fearful citizens. Some of them were glaring at him with hatred, but most were generally afraid of him. Ganondorf had never seen so much fear before. The Gerudo were taught not to show fear.

They continued on until they left the well of occupants to the pathetic side of town. The people were dirty and in rags. A stab of hopelessness constricted his chest when he realized that all of them were all to thin. A sign of lack of food. Was it possible that the Hylians didn't have enough food either? At least the Gerudo divided everything equally.

Ganondorf noticed their 'escorts' were getting a little edgy. The source, Nabooru.

Nabooru was tossing something small and shiny up in the air then catching it. She was antsy, spending three days on a horse was uncomfortable. It was taking forever to get to the castle. She needed to find _something _to amuse herself.

Ganondorf, being a great deal taller then Nabooru caught whatever it was on it's next flight through the air. It disappeared into his huge fist.

"Hey!"

"Where'd you get this?"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you mean! . . . Actually I did. But not from here!" she said quickly. Ganondorf's eyes were getting harder. I took it from-"

Ganondorf quickly covered her mouth afraid of what might come out of it. The guards were giving unfriendly looks. Then Nabooru bit him and he let go in surprise.

"It's your's!" she said in a loud whisper. She hated it when he covered her mouth.

"What!" he said angrily nursing his finger.

"The earring! It's you's!"

"What earing?"

Nabooru gave an exasperated sigh. "The thing you took from me, you moronic hunk of muscle!"

Ganondorf stared at the earring in shock and slowly felt his ears. He was missing one. "How did you-"

"All right you guys, what are you two whispering about?" one of the guards growled.

"Earrings!" Nabooru piped up. "We were talking about earrings!"

"Earrings?" The guard asked flatly.

"Yeah, I lost my earring and _Nabooru was giving it back to me. Isn't that right?_" Ganondorf said through clenched teeth.

Nabooru laughed nervously.

The guard sighed. "Come on, keep moving. Weird Gerudo," he muttered to himself.

They continued walking and Ganondorf leaned over to Nabooru. "How come you have to take every stupid thing and make it a big deal!"

"You're the one that made it into a big deal!"

"At least I don't take things that aren't mine! How'd you get this?"

"Remember when you were in the Archery course and you were training, and you were sucking and I tried to help you, and you nearly blew my head off?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't say that out loud, ok?" He looked around nervously.

"Well I got it then."

"How?"

Nabooru laughed. "I'm not going to tell you."

"Why?"

"If I did, I won't be able to do the same trick twice. It worked so well last time."

Ganondorf glared at Nabooru. "Nabooru, are you oblivious to the fact that I can kill you so easily that it would be like squishing an annoying, little bug."

Nabooru snorted out a laugh. "You don't have the brains, skill, or the guts to that!"

"What makes you so sure?" Ganondorf growled in a dangerous voice.

"You haven't yet."

"We're in public!"

"Wouldn't stop me." She tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and lengthened her stride so she was ahead of Ganondorf.

This annoyed Ganondorf so he lengthened his stride and passed Nabooru.

Nabooru tried to lengthen her stride more, but Ganondorf's legs were longer so she broke into a sprint and shot past him.

Ganondorf broke into a jog and barely caught her before the guards tackled them. He slowed their pace and continued to walk like nothing had happened, dragging Nabooru along. She stiffened her legs in a vain attempt to free herself. Then she abruptly sat down, causing Ganondorf to come to a halt. So Ganondorf heaved her up over his shoulder. He turned to the startled guards, holding Nabooru's legs so she wouldn't kick him. She was already doing a good job with her fists.

"I am so sorry." He apologized to the guards. "I have a serious case of obnoxiousness right here," He shouldered her more up his arm, making her teeth bang together. "Do you by chance have some rope, a gag, handcuffs, something to keep her out of my hair?"

The guard held up a pair of handcuffs.

"Perfect!" He set Nabooru down and whispered in her ear. "I can be mean, too."

"What?" Then Nabooru heard the click as a pair of handcuffs were fastened to her hands. On impulse she thrashed and struggled. "Ganondorf!" she cried in a panic. She quit thrashing and looked up pleadingly at him.

For an instant Ganondorf felt guilty. It was the shortest instant in history. "Nabooru, you're staying like that until you can take better control yourself. Don't look at me like that, 'cause it's _not_ going to work."

Nabooru's pleading expression turned into a glare. With that Ganondorf turned around and continued to the castle.

Nabooru bore a whole in the back of his head, already planning her revenge.

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"The king cannot see you. He's busy."

"When will he not be busy?" Ganondorf asked patiently.

"How am I to know?" The rather short man demanded.

He was prepared to stay the night if he had too. That might complicate things. He was unlikely to be welcomed in the palace. He couldn't stay in the town because he was banned. Maybe if he left the town and came back . . . Would they let him in a second time? Probably not. Maybe they'd let him stay in this waiting room, or whatever the room that they were in was called. It was a large stone hall of some sort. It had large windows draped with expansive curtains. Guards lined the perimeter of the room. Besides that, the room was empty except for the massive gold doors that led into the throne room of course.

"Can you tell him that we're here?" Ganondorf asked desperately. "We've come for a peaceful negotiation about trade."

"He's too busy. He's in a very important meeting and I can't interrupt."

"Could we plan another day?"

"No."

"At least tell him we're here!"

"It seems you are about to overstay your welcome, Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo. I suggest you prepare to leave."

Nabooru hadn't said a word since Ganondorf put her in the handcuffs. Even once they reached the Castle and he had taken them off she had been giving him the silent treatment. Ganondorf was secretly relieved.

Now Nabooru casually pulled out a gold rupee and waved it in front of the little man's face. The man's eyes widened. "Changed your mind?"

The man pocketed the rupee. "I will see if the King can be excused from his meeting." Then he disappeared behind the golden doors.

Ganondorf looked at Nabooru gratefully. "Hey, you owe me 200 rupees! I can't believe I gave that away just so you can get your _stupid_ ass into a _stupid_ throne room to talk to yet another _stupid_ King! And I'm not going to forget that whole handcuff thing! When we get home, I'm gonna put you though so much hell that it-"

"Thank you, Nabooru."

She crossed her arms. "Yeah, whatever." Then the doors opened.

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Daphnes was taking his afternoon walk with Zelda after lunch. It was quiet as usual. They never talked during their walks except maybe the small comments about the weather. The King and Queen used to come with them but the King's arthritis would bother him so he would return to his throne after lunch and the Queen would do the same because secretly she thought the walks awkward. Zelda said she loved the walks because it gave her some quiet time and let her to think. That was partly the reason why Daphnes wouldn't talk to Zelda during the walks. He didn't want to disturb Zelda's thinking, but mostly he just didn't know what to say. He never knew what to say to Zelda.

He wondered if Zelda was mad at him. Their wedding night wasn't exactly what he thought it would be. It was . . . awkward. It was pretty much Zelda staying on her side of the bed and him staying on his.

Will laughed at him. A lot. Even though he promised he wouldn't. He did try not to, and say comforting words, but every time he opened his mouth a laugh would come out. Ha. Ha. Apparently Daphnes' woes were hilarious. Let's laugh at the wimpy prince who doesn't have the guts to do anything and puts a shame to men everywhere! Ha, ha . . . growl. Afterwards, Will said he was sorry and that he wasn't laughing at Daphnes, he was laughing at the expression on Daphnes' face, and that he wasn't the only guy in the world who had that problem, and romance would come to him eventually, and that Will was a horrible person and if Daphnes wanted to, he had the total right to punch Will in the face. But Daphnes couldn't even do that, which made him feel even more like a wimp.

Zelda sighed with happiness as she watched the butterflies fly from flower to flower. She didn't look like she hated him. Daphnes _finally_ realized that she never hated him. So she wasn't passionately in love with him like Rosie was with Will. She didn't hate him. She probably liked him as a dear brother. That was ok. It was better then his parents' relationship. But it kinda put a problem on the whole new heir to the throne thing. And it was kind of depressing. Maybe he should stop thinking about it and start thinking about something else.

"Daphnes?" Daphnes looked up to Zelda's pretty blue eyes.

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if we visited the water fountain? One of the coy fish has a ripped fin. I want to see if it's all right today."

Daphnes smiled. "Of course." They walked to the water fountain, Zelda dipping her slender fingers into the water to pet the fish. Daphnes stared at the coy, their mouths moving up and down, they looked rather dumb. He wondered if fish had female problems. They probably had easy lives. Just swimming all day. Did they have leaders in their school? They didn't have to run countries. Well, the Zoras were fish and they had a king. Well, they were fish like, humanoid with light blue skin, fins on their elbows, tails on their heads, and webbed fingers and toes. Their King looked like a giant blowfish with tiny legs and arms. They were shocking to see. When he was told about them in his studies, they told him they were not much smarter then fish. But, when they came to the castle, in their eyes, black and pupil-less eyes as they were, he could see intelligence. Not just intelligence, intelligence as great as his own. They were thinking. They had a language, a culture, a civilization. They moved with grace and precision, by their own code that was even more strict then his own. They had come because they were worried about his father's power. Where did the Hylian's land end, and the Zora's began? It _was_ the Zoras who kept Hyrule's water supply clean . . . should they get more then what they already have?

"Zelda?"

"Hmm,"

"Do you think . . . the Zoras . . . Do you think they're angry at us? Well not that but . . ."

Zelda pushed herself up from her elbows and sighed. "I am not sure if it is my place to say."

"Why wouldn't it?"

"I'm from all the way from Hyla. Hyrule is not my country."

"Hey, we got married yesterday. You are officially Princess of Hyrule."

"Ok, then." She took a deep breath. "Yes I think the Zora are offended. Their people are . . . easily offended. They are very proud and they must have things done a certain way. Compared to our race . . . we might look as bad as the Gerudo to them. They have rules to everything . . . Things you would think silly." She paused a bit before continuing. "Then there are the Hylians. We have been blessed with riches, food, population and land. A lot of land. We have grown so much that sometimes I think we forget about the other races. Hyrule doesn't just belong to us, but to all of them, too. The Zora may see us stepping over our boundaries a bit. Your father calling himself 'The King of Hyrule' can't be helping matters either."

"Oh." Daphnes had never thought of it that way before. Were the Hylians getting too full of themselves? "What do you think we should do?"

Zelda laughed. "I don't know. You just asked me what I thought and I told you."

Daphnes thought for a bit. "What if I talked with my father about it? Maybe together we can come up with an agreement that the Zoras will take."

Zelda looked up at him. "You'll do that?"

"Uh . . . sure."

She smiled. "I think that's very noble of you."

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Well we can go now." He took her hand. "Come on, I'm pretty sure he isn't busy right now."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The King and Queen sat silently on their throne. Outside the main golden doors, the King of the Gerudo stood waiting. Nohanson couldn't believe he was let though Hyrule Castle Market Town, let alone the Palace itself. What were the guards thinking? What if the Gerudo were here to do their revenge on the Hylians? They could have seriously hurt or even killed some of the civilians! They probably bribed their way in. He had to get better guards, ones who wouldn't fall for such a blunder! What were people coming to these days? And now the barbaric King stood in front of his doors. He was surprised that the Gerudo didn't act until now. They must've waited for their King to grow up so they could have someone to do their dirty work for them. What was he supposed to do? He told the doorman to tell them he was busy. Maybe they'll go away. Whatever they wanted couldn't be good. Please don't be here for war. The country didn't need that.

"Um . . . Father?" King Nohanson was jolted out of his thinking. Queen Maria gestured frantically for her son to stop talking. Daphnes lowered his voice to a whisper. "Why are we being quiet?"

"The Gerudo King is standing right outside the golden doors."

"What?" Daphnes cried out in panicked surprise, then covered his mouth as his voice echoed around the room. The King and Queen shushed him and he scrambled to his seat besides the King. Zelda rolled her eyes and gracefully took her place besides Daphnes.

"I thought you said their King had died!" Daphnes said in a loud whisper.

"This is the new one."

"New one! There's a new one? How old can he possibly be?"

"I don't know. I haven't been keeping track, but you're right. He can't be any older than his teens. He may not be much of a threat."

"What?" Queen Maria practically shrieked. "You're not seriously thinking of seeing him, are you! He's a barbarian! He'll send his Gerudo assassins to kill us in our sleep! He hates us, there's no doubt about that!"

"Father, maybe we should talk to them. What if they don't mean harm? We don't even know why they're here in the first place."

"I'm not letting that barbaric king anywhere near my baby!"

"Mother--"

"Don't you say a word, Daphnes!" And the arguing went on with the King just kinda sitting there waving his hand in a vain attempt to stop the nonsense.

Zelda sighed. She wondered if they were ever going to realize that the room they were in was soundproof and they didn't have to whisper. Though, they weren't being too quite. Then the golden doors opened.

The Royal Family abruptly straightened in their thrones. The doorman came in. "Um . . ." The doorman looked around nervously. "The Gerudo King wants Your Majesty to know of his presence . . .and that he wants to negociate."

"See?" Daphnes said to his father. "He wants to negociate. Maybe we could get something out of it _and_ stop the threat of an all-out war."

"But-" The Queen started.

"Let him in," Daphnes said. The doorman disappeared behind the doors and Daphnes winced, sure that he would be reprimanded for giving an order without his Father's permission, but his Father seemed to approve of his decision.

Then the Gerudo came in. The first one was a really young one, no older then 13. She was only a child, but she walked in like she owned the world. Gerudo through and through. He briefly wondered what her purpose was for coming here.

Then the King of the Gerudo came in. He was much, _much_ bigger then the young Gerudo girl, but Daphnes had a feeling he was nowhere as old as he looked. Muscles rippled in his arms ( muscles that Daphnes could never even dream of having). But his face had a young, almost innocent look . . . but there was something else there too. Like he'd been through something no one his age should go through.

Ganondorf looked over the people who ruled over the Hylians. They were pale and weak. Ganondorf would have never thought them to be rulers, except maybe the expensive clothes. Although anyone could wear expensive clothes if they knew how to get it. But one of them did have wisdom, intelligence in her eyes. He'd never seen such a color . . .

Zelda gasped when the Gerudo King laid his strange red orange eyes on her. She grabbed Daphnes' hand.

"Zelda?" Daphnes asked in a low whisper. "What is it?"

Zelda tightened her grip. She didn't know why but she felt sick, and something about this boy scared her. Besides the fact that he was the King of the Gerudo, she felt that he had great power and he didn't know how to control it. He may not even know that it existed yet. Something bad was going to happen.

Ganondorf bowed to the King of the Hylians. After a moment he nudged Nabooru, who rolled her eyes but eventually bowed too. "Your Majesty, we come here . . . for help."

"Help? Why should we help you?" The Queen asked in a shrill voice, but King Nohanson raised a hand to shush her.

"It seems," Nohanson said, "that we have much to talk about."

Ganondorf cast his eyes to the floor as he started to talk. "I have come from my home to ask--to _beg_--for forgiveness of the past wrongs that my people have committed."

Nabooru didn't like this. It looked like Ganondorf was submitting to the damn Hylian King.

"We are starving. We ask for your help."

"Help? How will we be able to help you?" It wasn't an accusation; the King of the Hylians truly wished to know.

"Let the Gerudo back into the Market. We have more than enough gold to trade with."

No. He couldn't do that. He was sorry for the Gerudo, he truly was, but he couldn't deny what was. The Gerudo where liars and thieves. He would be back where he had started. More people will lose their money and more. The kingdom was still trying to recover now. The Gerudo King seemed to be true enough, but he was so young. He would not be able to control every one of his people.

"Gerudo King, your people have done us wrong in the past, and that was the reason for my decision. How am I to be sure it will not happen again?"

"We are desperate, your Majesty. I will pay for all wrongs done in future and past!" Ganondorf pleaded.

But the Hylian King hesitated. He didn't want to be lied to. He didn't want his kingdom to go through more then it had to.

Ganondorf started to panic. He had to get the Hylian King to help them. The king that didn't trust him for things his people had done before he was born. Damn his people. There _had_ to be a better way to make a living than theft. What was the last king thinking! What would the last king do now?

"I cannot put my people though pain again if you are lying," The Hylian King continued. "The Gerudo are not known for their trust. I am sorry. But I don't think I can trust you."

Ganondorf's shoulders slumped.

"But I will send you some food for the return trip home."

Wait . . . that sounded like a good thing.

"It should last you for a few days."

"A few days?" Ganondorf repeated.

"Maybe a week . . . I'm sorry, but I truly cannot help you. It's simply not in my power. I don't have nearly enough of the resources you would need, and . . . My people do not exactly trust the Gerudo." _With good reason. _The unspoken accusation hung in the air like a wet blanket. Ganondorf felt his muscles tensing, the familiar urge to hit something.

But that just might get him arrested or killed, and the whole Gerudo population would be punished. Which would ruin the point of this meeting somewhat. Plus, it would prove this arrogant Hylian King right.

Nabooru opened her mouth to say something rude, and Ganondorf almost let her. There were certainly plenty of things floating around in _his _mind that he wanted to say. But at the last minute he put a hand on her shoulder, practically knocking her to the ground and shutting her up at the same time. She glared at him, her hazel eyes shooting daggers. He ignored her and stared up at the Hylian King, whose expression was firm but regretful. To the Queen, who looked thoroughly pleased with the situation. To the boy, who had a bit of a dumb expression on his face, though his clenched jaw and narrowed eyes hinted that he understood more than it seemed. Finally his eyes landed on the wise one. She was the one who'd listen to reason. He stepped toward her.

Zelda cringed, but stood her ground.

"Princess of Hyrule, please . . . Do you think that you can help us?"

Zelda opened her mouth to say something but no words came out.

"The Princess can do nothing for you. She is only a girl," Daphnes father said for her. His words rescued her from the Gerudo King, but she couldn't help but hate them.

Ganondorf stood. "I believe I have no reason to stay then." His words dark and thick.

"Farewell then, Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo. I am truly sorry."

Ganondorf bowed to the Royal Family, but said nothing and showed himself out. Nabooru turned to follow but stopped and gave one last look to the Royal Family, cursing them with her eyes. She looked like she would speak, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't need to say anything, for she got her message across. She turned around and followed Ganondorf.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The drawbridge lowered with an ominously rumbled. "Thank Din," Yazzman mumbled as she saw both Ganondorf and Nabooru still walking. Nabooru was leading an ox pulling a fully loaded wagon.

"What's that?" asked one of the Gerudo.

"A gift from the_ King_." Ganondorf muttered as he remounted Shadow.

"So that means it went well?" asked Yazzman. "We can come back to the market?"

"No." Silence. Most knew that this wouldn't work anyway, but having the tiny little hope that it could, crushed, was harder then expected. "That is all he'll give us." Ganondorf motioned to the wagon.

"This! This is it!"

Jennie looked sadly at Ganondorf's depressed form, laying a hand on his back.

"It didn't work Jennie. It didn't . . . It didn't work."

"Shh, you Majesty, lets go home."


	6. Chapter 5 Power

AN: This is a much shorter chapter. . .well it's still pretty long but half the lenght of the other chapter. I bet you guys are happy. This one is on't 15 pages long . . .heh heh. Any way. I got some important things in here and some not so inportant but still a little impotant things stuck in there as well. I found Daphnes amuseing. Don't you just hat those annoying talking owls?

--kid with the cap

Chapter 4

Power

Nabooru rested herself on the stone wall, letting the sun warm her arms. She watched the other girls go by. Nobody asked her what she was doing, just standing there. She had been doing this every day at three o'clock for two years. Any second Ganondorf will walk out of the door that was next to her. She was slightly annoyed that he was already two minutes late. She heard the heavy footprints before he was even close to where she was. She shoved one of her scimitars in his path through the door, stopping him in his tracks. If he was startled, he didn't show it, but looked mildly annoyed. His very large body was filling up all the space of the door.

"You're late," Nabooru said, not looking at him.

"Sorry. I had to find a book that you haven't read yet."

Nabooru reluctantly let down the weapon and headed for the gates that led to the open desert, Ganondorf not far behind. The Gerudo had left the gate open for them like they did every day. They sat down in their usual spot in the warm sand and Nabooru would read.

"'Lost in the des . . . ert sand, the people buried their tr-treasure. 'Let them have at least the inca . . . the inc-"

"Inconvenience," Ganondorf finished.

"How'd you know?! You're not reading it!"

Ganondorf just waited for her to continue.

"''Let them have at least the _inconvenience _of never finding our treasure,' said the leader with her dyeing breath. Saloona, the oldest of her age group of 18, watched over her, her sword at the ready. They waited for the enemy to come. The in . . . eva-evi . . . eble . . . inevible . . . inevitable . . . The inevitable death that would come, will come. But the Gerudo never gave up without a fight. Though every one of them died that night, the treasure was never found.' Wasn't that a cool ending?"

"Eh. I thought it was slightly depressing."

"You think _all _of the stories are 'slightly depressing'!"

"Well, in all the Gerudo stories, they always die at the end. Sometimes it suites the story, but others it just seems to be a rule."

"So? Dying is cool."

"You _want_ to die?"

"Hmm . . . It depends. _How_ do I die? Is it cool? It's got to be cool. Like maybe first my arm gets cut off, and I'm still swinging my sword with my other arm, until I finally get decapitated and there's blood, like, just everywhere and-"

"Nabooru, stop. You're scaring me. It's not healthy to talk like that."

"I think it's a very important topic that we should discuss. I'm scaring you, huh?"

"I think you're being stupid. Here." He gave her a piece of paper and a stick that was burnt at the end. "Write something in Hylian."

"Aw, but Hylian is so boring . . . and more complicated."

"Complicated and boring are oxymorons, and everything outside the Gerudo Valley is in Hylian."

"It's not as pretty and it's backwards," Nabooru said as she scratched away at the paper. Hylian was written from left to right, while Gerudo was written up and down and read right to left. When she was done, she threw it at Ganondorf, but being paper, it didn't go far. Ganondorf patiently picked it up and brushed the sand off. It read, in bad handwriting. 'Hylen is hard. It sucks. Hyleans should die. I hate Ganondorf. He should die too.'

"Well you spelled Hylian two different ways and both of them are wrong."

"I don't care."

"But besides that I don't see anything else that screams stupidity . . . except for what you wrote." As Ganondorf studied the parchment, he felt something prodding the skin on his arm. "Nabooru, what are you doing?"

"Writing. Hold still." She continued to write in Gerudo down his arm.

"You not writing profanity on my arm, are you?"

Nabooru gasped. "Of course not! I am writing the meaning of life!"

"Great."

Ganondorf let Nabooru finish, dreading what she could possible mean. There were some things that Ganondorf regretted teaching Nabooru.

"There, done! It's so beautiful. You should turn into a tattoo." Ganondorf looked at his arm, cocking his head so he could read it better. "'Nabooru is awesome?'"

"Ain't it the truth?"

"Ok, my turn." He grabbed Nabooru's arm and started to write too. She gave up struggling before she even started. "Your arm is so small. You need to work out more."

"Well I'm sorry that we can't all be as masculine as you! There's got to be some strange chemical in the Y-chromosome that makes men say stupid things."

Ganondorf wrote perfect and tiny on her arm and finished. "_I_ say stupid things!?"

Nabooru, who was one to talk, just answered with a simple, "Yes." Nabooru twisted her arm and bent her head awkwardly to try to read what was on her arm. "O . . . bey your king?"

"I think it's very good advice, don't you?"

"The Hell I will."

"Well you have to. It's written on your skin."

"I can just rub it off."

"I could just rub off 'Nabooru is awesome'."

They glared at each other for a little but neither of them rubbed off the words on their arms. Maybe it was because Ganondorf really did think Nabooru was awesome, and as stubborn as Nabooru was, she would obey Ganondorf when the time came, or they were just too lazy to brush it off. Gerudo are weird. It's hard to tell what they really mean or if they mean anything at all.

* * *

"Please, oh please to all three Goddesses, let me find her," Will muttered frantically as he ran around in circles, lifting random things or tossing stuff aside. He'd make a panicked noise whenever he found something sharp. In a barn, there are a lot of sharp things.

"Will!?" called one of the other stable boys.

"Yeah!?"

"You gonna help, or what!?"

"In a sec!" He made one more look over in the tack room he was in, grabbed a saddle to make it look like he was helping and left.

In the hall, a boy was wrestling with a tall flea-bitten stallion. "Will, I can't do this by myself. They want six horses. It's the Prince, for heaven's sake!"

"I know! You gotta stop pulling on Turk's head. It just makes him raise his head even higher. I'll be right back!"

"Will!"

This was not good. This was bad. Bad? This was downright horrible. Like the world was exploding. Where the hell was she! He was gonna hyperventilate or something and die. Blinded by his panic, he ran into someone. This not being hard since there were a lot of people running around in the excitement that the Prince was here. In fact, it was the Prince he ran into.

"Daphnes! I lost her! She not anywhere! She's probably squashed underneath the hooves of some terrible renegade horse! Or . . . or . . ."

"Is this what you're looking for?" Daphnes smiled and held up a two-year-old girl with red hair.

Will gasped in relief, but then his eyes narrowed at Daphnes. "Give me that!" He swiped his daughter away from the Prince. "I could charge you for kidnaping!"

"But you can't, because I'm the Prince," Daphnes replied rather smugly.

"Hosey! Hosey!"

"Yeah, I know. You want to see the horses. Later, ok?"

"No!"

Will had his hands full, one holding the saddle the other holding the little girl. He looked tired. "Ok," He set the girl down. "I'll tell you where the horseys are."

"Yay!"

"You see that hay pile over there?" He pointed to the hay that was always there. "The horseys are hiding in there.

"Weally?"

"Yeah, go knock yourself out." The little girl toddled to the hay pile and began to dig. The wall separating the hay blocked her view of the real prancing horses. Will saw a horse that appeared to have been forgotten, it was missing a saddle but was tied up until who put it there came back. Will tossed the saddle on it and began fussing with the buckles. The process took longer then usually, because he kept turning his head to make sure his daughter was still playing in the hay.

"So . . . why do you have Katie here? Where's Rosie?" Daphnes asked, leaning against the wall.

"Rosie went back to work."

"What? Why?"

"Apparently," Will said as he tightened the girth maybe a little too tight than strictly necessary. "I built our house on land owned by Mr. What's-His-Face! It's not like he's using it! For Nayru's sake, it took him TWO FREAKIN' YEARS before he even noticed that we were there. But will he let us have it? No! _We_ have to pay rent! That's why Rosie went back to work! Some horrible old guy made her go back to work, even though we have a daughter to look out for, to pay his Goddess damn rent!!"

"Will-"

"And you! YOU! What are you doing here!?"

"What?" Daphnes was confused. Will didn't usually act like this.

"Here! About to go hunting! You hate hunting! You Goddess damn suck at it!"

"You're not having a good day are you?"

"No. I'm sorry. I'm better now."

"I do hate hunting."

"Then you're here . . . to make an excuse to come see the wonder that is me?"

Daphnes laughed. "I wish, but my dad told me to invite 'Frederick Alexander Worthington the 5th' on a hunting trip because he's a 'very important Noble' and that I will enjoy it."

"Does your father know you? Like at all?"

"Daphnes sighed.

"Well I bet this Freddy dude is happy."

"Yeah, he's been following me around like a lost puppy." Daphnes looked around nervously for any signs of the noble. Will presented the horse to Daphnes.

"Your horse, your Majesty?" he said playfully.

"Your Majesty!" called a whole new voice and Daphnes bit off a groan. As Frederick Alexander Worthington the 5th walked smartly up to Daphnes, Will recognized him. The man that was hitting on his wife at the reception two years ago! First Will had a strong urge to kill him right then, but then he came to his senses. What if What's-His-Butt recognized him, realized he wasn't a noble and found some way to accuse him of something that he didn't do out of spite because he just hated him for being the husband of a woman he was interested in. It was known to happen before. Will was well aware that he was acting like Daphnes and had a mental image of him running around in circles like a chicken with his head cut off. He pulled his hat over his face and hoped that the Noble didn't recognize him.

"Your Majesty! What are you doing over here with this . . ." He waved his hand vaguely at Will. " . . .thing?"

"Hey, this 'thing' happens to be-"

Will waved his hands in an attempt to make Daphnes shut up. Will was fine being a thing. Hell, he loved things. Things were cool. He didn't need any more attention focused on him. Pretty soon Rosie will be here for her lunch break and take Katie . . . "Katie! Sorry Daph, I have to go find Katie!" Will ran off in his second panic of the day.

"Your Majesty, did he just call you 'Daph'. I have never met such a rude commoner. And he seems rather familiar. He should be taught a lesson."

"Ahh . . ." was all Daphnes could manage.

Will practically dove into the hay pile, throwing bits of hay everywhere. A few people stopped to watched him with curiosity. Maybe Katie was still in there and she was just hiding. . . .Or maybe . . . maybe . . .

"Will?" said a familiar voice. "What are you doing? Where's Katie?"

"Rosie!" He turned around to face her, his wife. "Is it your lunch break here already?"

"Will, where's our daughter?"

"Daughter?"

"KATIE!"

"Oh that daughter, well she'd not here, obviously. Well maybe she is. She's in the hay! No of course not she's--she's . . . Rosie, baby. Don't. Panic."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!"

All heads turned to the young couple.

"YOU LOST HER?!?!?!? IN THE BARN?! YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS A BARN COULD BE?! She could get stepped on, or hurt, or . . . or. . . . "

"Shh, it's ok. We'll find her."

"Where did you last see her?"

"She was playing in the hay."

"She's not in there now, hiding?"

"I checked. I'll search one half of the stable and you search the other half. We'll find her."

Will went one way and Rosie went the other.

She began asking everyone if they had seen a two-year-old girl with red hair, but so far nobody had.

Tapping the shoulder of a noble she asked as she curtsied, "Excuse me sir, but please, have you seen a small girl?"

"Hey, I remember you." She felt a finger slip under her chin and raised her face to meet his, while his other hand took her wrist. She realized that she had seen him before too, and a new wave of panic filled her. Frederic swept a look across her plain dress. "Pity, for you only being a commoner."

But he did not let go. She tried to pull away and he only tightened his grip. She looked around wildly to see if anyone was there to help her, but everyone who saw only stared. No one was brave enough to stand up to a noble. She wished with all her heart that Will was there, but he was looking for Katie. He wouldn't know that she was in trouble. Will . . .

"Frederic." A hand went to the noble's shoulder. "Let her go," The Prince said in a calm, but chilling voice.

"Your Majesty!" he said, still not letting go of Rosie. "Did you know that this . . . _woman_ was at your reception? A poor maid!?"

"Frederic, let her go."

"But your Majesty . . . "

Daphnes narrowed his eyes. With obvious disgust Frederic shoved her away, just in time for Will to see.

"Rosie! I found--HEY!" Carrying Katie, he marched up to the scene. "What the Hell do you think you're doing?!" He gave Katie to Rosie who buried her face in her daughter's hair. Will glared daggers at Frederic.

"And you, you were there too. Your Majesty, this moron was at your wedding wreaking havoc and dragging along his slut of a wife-"

_Wham!_

Frederic went down.

Rosie stiffed a gasp.

"Will!" Daphnes exclaimed with his hands on his head.

Will didn't respond. He just stood there, his fist still clenched, slightly trembling.

"Will!" Will looked up. "Do you know how much trouble you're in!?"

Will looked down at the man on the ground that he had just punched in the face. He realized how much trouble he was in.

"Ah . . . shit."

"Daddy made booboos."

Frederic slowly put a hand to his face. There was a small trickle of blood that ran from his nose. "YOU! Somebody! Arrest this man for assaulting a noble!" Rosie took Will's arm, still holding Katie close. "Your Majesty! Did you see what he just did?!"

"I saw," Daphnes said looking at Will with frustration. Why did he do this to him?! Will had a stubborn look on his face, obviously not sorry for what he had done. "But, shouldn't we arrest him later? We've been planning this hunting trip for some time now. I don't want to delay any longer."

"But your Majesty, wouldn't he just run away?"

"Hmm . . . I see. Well we will have to arrest him!"

"Huh, what?" Will gapped at Daphnes.

"We will tie him up, throw him in a closet so he can't run away, and we'll deal with him later."

"Daphnes!" Will panicked.

The prince got the attention of one of the workers and whispered in his ear. " Please take the _culprit_ out back with his family. Pretend to lock him up but don't. Tell him that I need to talk with him when I return." The worker nodded and did what he asked, taking Will's arm.

"Ok, what the hell!?"

Daphnes gave Will a pleading gesture with his eyes. When that didn't seem to work, he started to make vague gestures with his hands only to confuse Will further more until he gave up and stomped his foot, making a frustrated sound.

"Is there something wrong, your Majesty?" asked Frederic.

"No! Everything's just peachy!"

"Peachy?"

"Yes. Wi-stableboy, are these are horses?" Daphnes asked trying to sound snooty and waving his hand toward the hoses he assumed where there's.

" . . .Yes. Be carful with Turk. He's a little antsy lately. Don't pull on his-"

"I think we've heard enough form _you!_" Frederic snapped.

Will was taken a way and Daphnes was left with Frederic Alexander Worthington the 5th and the guards that would be accompanying them. Daphnes hated hunting. He hated it. _Hated_ it. Ooh! I know! Let's shoot at little woodland animals! Why? 'Cause it's fun! Killing things is enjoyable. He mounted his horse. He was horrible at this. He'll probably shoot Frederic by accident. . . . That could be a good thing . . .

"Hosey!"

"Huh?"

Katie had escaped from Rosie and was toddling toward Turk. Naturally Frederic was pulling on his head. The tall horse reared up on his hind legs, furious at the pain in his mouth. The little girl looked like nothing compared to the stallion towering over her. Daphnes fell off his horse and scrambled over to her before the horse's hard hooves could kill her. Grabbing her as he moved, one of the hooves nicked him in the head. He rolled out of the way, holding Katie with one arm while his free hand clutched his head. He sat there for a while, waiting for his vision to stop swimming.

"Your Majesty! Are you all right!?"

"Ow." Frederic's voice was three times as loud as it usually was--and it was loud to begin with.

"His Highness is injured! The beast should be slaughtered for causing such an injury!"

Daphnes looked at his hand. There was some blood on it. Great.

"The beast! The beast--!"

"Will you _shut up?!"_ Frederic stopped and looked mildly surprised. Daphnes slowly got up.

"Let me help, Your Majesty!"

"No! I'm fine! Just . . . get on with whatever we're supposed to be doing! _You_!" Daphnes caught the attention of another the workers, which wasn't hard. He was attracting a lot of attention. He could hear cheers and people calling him a hero and the best Prince that ever was and etcetera but he didn't really care. "Take this to whom she belongs to." He handed Katie to the worker. "And tell him _how_ much I HATE him. Hit him really, really hard, will you?"

The worker bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty." He started to walk away.

At the last second Daphnes called out to him. "Wait! I don't hate him, and don't hit him _too _hard."

Daphnes sighed. A lot of people begged him to go see a doctor about the head wound, but Daphnes stubbornly refused. He was going on this hunting trip if it was the last thing he did! He was man enough to tough it out, right? Yeah, probably not. Well if he was going to die, it would put him out of his pathetic misery. He accepted a rag someone gave him and tied it around his head. Then he mounted his horse, and went off with his guards and Frederic Alexander Worthington the 5th.

* * *

Daphnes hunting trip was . . . not so fun. Sometimes Daphnes would miss because of complete lack of skill; other times he would miss because he was nervous of missing or because he was nervous of hitting the poor thing. One time he almost had it, when the rabbit turned it's head and looked at him. It didn't run away, it just stared at him with it's black beady little eyes and it scared him so he missed. He would practically faint whenever Frederic caught something. It made him feel sick. One, because there was now a dead thing to carry around, and two, because he couldn't do that! He wasn't manly enough. Fair skinned, muscle-less, pathetic Daphnes! He vowed he will catch something, and it will be great, and his mom will love him, and his dad will be proud of him, and Zelda will . . . Zelda . . . and Zelda will never know, because she doesn't like hunting.

While Daphnes was in determined mode, he got separated from the group. There was a small spike of panic, until he realized when he did want to go home, he'd just let his horse take him, so he continued his search. To his surprise he found something.

Perched on a tree branch was a _very, very,_ large owl. It was about half as tall as Daphnes was, and only a few inches away. Daphnes could touch it, it was so close. The owl was looking away and apparently had not sensed Daphnes' presence. Daphnes took out his bow very slowly and strung it as quietly as he could. There was no way he could miss this time. He apologized silently to the owl, and drew back the string.

The owl turned around to find an arrow pointed at his face, and with a look that was entirely too human, he said, "Oh dear."

Daphnes missed. How? He fell off his horse in surprise, letting the arrow fly to Goddesses knows where. He hit the ground hard.

"Goodness, are you all right?" asked the owl.

Daphnes scrambled a few feet away and hurriedly drew his sword. "Back! Back, you beast!" he said, waving it around. He couldn't do much with it in his sitting position.

"If you don't mind, I prefer not to use weapons for the rest of this conversation. Not good with them you see? With the whole wings and no hands thing."

"Oh no. GREAT! When the damn horse hit my head, I got a concussion and now I'm seeing and hearing things that are not there!"

The owl chuckled. "You mortals are rather amusing. My name is Kaepora Gaebora, and I know that you are Prince Daphnes of Hyrule."

"Ok," Daphnes sighed with a hand over his eyes. "How do I make you go away? Do I just close my eyes and you'll disappear?" He lifted his hand, said, "Nope. Still there," and returned his hand.

"You're not very bright, are you? But that can't be . . . the Great Deku Tree said that the royal family was probably best suited for the Triforce of Wisdom, and I be darned if the Great Deku Tree was ever wrong!"

"Tree? . . .The Triforce!? You mean the sacred relic of the Goddesses?!"

"Yes, yes, of course I mean the sacred relic! What other triforce could I possibly mean!? A three pronged eating utensil!? The bolts that screw your head on must be loose!"

"Does . . . does that mean it exist?!"

"Do you believe in the Goddesses?"

"Um . . . I guess."

"Then of course it exists! It exists! It's right there! It's been right there the whole time, under your nose and you haven't found it!"

"Wait! You know where it is?!"

The owl burst into laughter. "Do I know where it is?!" He continued to laugh. "Of course not. How would I know where it is?"

"But . . . you said . . ."

"Darn it boy, listen to me!"

"Oh man . . . I'm talking to a hallucination when in reality I'm probably face down in some ditch somewhere while maggots eat out my brain!"

The crazy owl was still laughing. "No-no! You're really talking to a giant owl!" He turned his head so that it was completely upside down. "Can you do this? I have yet to meet someone else who can." Daphnes just stared with a dumb look on his face. Now that he was 100 percent sure he was crazy, things just didn't matter anymore. The owl fixed his head and stopped laughing. "Ok. I'm sorry. I just like messing with your head. I haven't had this much fun since . . . well a long time. Let's get down to business."

"Business?"

"Yes, of course. Now, about the Triforce, do you know what it can do?"

" . . . Can't it grant wishes?"

"Yes, anything! You can wish for anything! There are no rules to it, it will just happen. All you have to do is touch it, and any wish you want can come true."

" . . .Ok . . ." Daphnes said, digesting that.

"Hey! Are you still listening!?" Daphnes nodded. "Then you see how horrible this is!?"

"Ah . . . no. Not really."

"Oh for goodness sake! If anyone found the Triforce, then people would be making wishes all over the place! Chaos, my dear boy! Chaos! This man wants that man dead for stealing, but the thief's family wants him alive so the Triforce has to divide up realities and then it will keep having to dividing up realities for more contradicting wishes until there are more of them than an immortal can count, and not only is this annoying, but in each reality people are selfish and greedy and destroying others' and their own lives because people don't know what they want. They think they know what they want, and they wish for it, then they realized that it doesn't make them happy and they don't know what makes them happy and they get depressed and-"

"Ok! I get it! Triforce is bad."

"No, it's not."

"But-" Daphnes made a frustrated noise. "You know, I'm really regretting _not_ shooting you when I had the chance."

"But the Triforce isn't 'bad'. It could do tremendous good too, if one knew what he was doing."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Well, aren't you the Prince? The Prince should know such things. Especially since you live so near to it."

"So you _do_ know where the Triforce is."

"Of course not! I am not allowed such information."

"Unless you're lying."

"There is that, but have you ever heard of an owl who lies?"

"I never heard of an owl who talked before either. I don't know why you're being so difficult."

"_I'm_ being difficult! You won't even believe of my existence!"

"Then what is your point in lying to me!?"

"One, I never said I was lying, two maybe I'm denying that I know where the Triforce is so you don't get the insain idea to go looking for it, three, I'm denying that I know where the Triforce is, knowing that you know I'm lying, and your curiosity will drive you into finding it, which was part of my plan the whole time, or four, I'm just talking nonsense because I find it fun."

"Ok, you stupid owl-"

"Kaepora Gaebora."

"Whatever! Or maybe . . . five, you are not lying and you want me to think you are lying so that my curiosity will drive me into finding it, so then you would know where it is, steal and use it for your own purposes because you are an evil demon disguised as an owl!"

Kaepora laughed. "You are getting better at this."

Daphnes ignored him. "Reason two, states that you don't want me to find the Triforce, reason three and five states that you do, and reasons one and four suggest that you don't care. There is only one reason that states that you don't want me to find out, so I'm ruling that one out. Reasons one and four, I can't really believe that you would make up this whole conversation just to mess with me, because I'm sure talking owls have more important things to do. You're unnatural so you must have a purpose, which leave me with reasons three and five. That means that you want me to find the Triforce!"

Kaepora didn't say anything but just looked at him with a somewhat confused face, but if he was really confused or not was beyond Daphnes.

"Now the new question is, if I should find it or not. If you are an evil demon, than the answer is obviously not. You might destroy the world or something, but what if you were some messenger from the Goddesses, and I ignore you, then I could horribly offend them and be sent to Hell."

"That's a pickle isn't it?" said the amused owl.

"That's why I'm going to simply assume you're a hallucination . . . and that way if I'm wrong and I get sent to Hell then it's better than you destroying the world."

Kaepora shrugged his shoulders. "I guess that's a pretty good choice . . . but, there is always the possibility that the world depends on you finding the Triforce."

"What?"

"Well, look at the time. Time just seems to fly by when you're talking to someone. If you don't mind, I must go. I'm supposed to meet the Great Deku Tree again today. Good day." The owl lifted his large wings and flew away. Daphnes sat there dazed for a while. Eventually he remounted his horse so he could sit dazed there instead. More time went by until the horse got bored and started to make his own way home.

* * *

"Daphnes!" Will ran up to Daphnes when he entered the stable yard. "See ya got rid of the asshole." Will said, obviously pleased, but Daphnes was still in dazed mood and had no idea what Will was talking about.

"Asshole?"

"Frederic yadda yadda something."

"Frederic . . . Oh man, I lost him." Daphnes put a hand on his head where he had cut it.

"Hey man. You ok?" Daphnes slid off his horse and stumbled backwards. "What happened?"

"I . . . got separated . . . and there was this . . . talking owl . . . and . . . he wanted me to find the Triforce . . ."

Will nodded his head as if he understood, then put an arm around Daphnes' shoulder. "It's ok, Daph. I believe you." He motioned to one of the other workers when Daphnes wasn't looking and mouthed the words, 'Get a doctor'. "Let's just sit down over here."

* * *

"I don't know why I hang out with you losers," Nabooru said as she inspected the sharpness of her sword.

"I don't know why you do either. Every time you're here, we just fight," Aria said.

"Maybe I just feel sorry for you and decided to grace you with my presence!" Nabooru said like her usual self.

"The real question is, why do we let Nabooru hang out with us," said Yasha.

"Hey!" Nabooru brandished her sword. "Chick with a sword here!"

"Aw, we love ya, Nabooru," Nieesha said. She looked over to where Krea was glaring at nothing in particular. "Well . . . most of us anyway."

"Oh Nieesha I love you too!" Nabooru flung her arms around Nieesha.

"Ok. Get off me."

"No."

"Not breathing."

"Get off of her," Krea said unexpectedly. "Wouldn't you rather be hugging someone else anyway?"

Everyone looked at Krea with blank confused expressions.

" . . . Krea . . . do you want a hug too?" Nabooru asked sweetly.

"No! You idiots!" She returned to her glaring.

"Who else would you rather be hugging, Nabooru?" asked Nieesha.

"I don't know what the hell Krea's talking about. She's just weird."

Nieesha wasn't satisfied with that so she poked Krea. "Hey Krea--"

"Go away."

"Who would Nabooru rather be hugging?"

"I said, leave me alone!"

"Who would Nabooru rather be hugging?"

Nabooru looked up and saw Ganondorf walking toward the stables. "Ganondorf. I'll see you losers later." She got up and practically skipping as she went. The rest of the girls watched them leave, Nabooru excitedly walking in circles around him, telling him about her day, while he quietly listened.

"Who would Nabooru rather be hugging?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Krea said, waving her arms in Nabooru and Ganondorf's direction.

"The King?"

Krea merely raised an eyebrow.

"You think that Nabooru has a crush on the King?" Yasha's eye had an almost evil glint to it at the news.

Aria looked horrified. "She can't do that! To fall in love with a man is against Gerudo law! That emotion--"

"Aria, chill. A crush and fallen in love is not the same . . . is it against the law if it's the King?"

Yasha thought for a moment. " I don't know. I always thought that rule was there because 'falling in love with the enemy' was bad, but . . . the King is a man and he's not the enemy."

"Love makes people weak," Aria said. "Foolish, and they make mistakes. If it's not the like the love we have for our sisters it's forbidden. Nabooru isn't anywhere near disciplined enough to get away with it."

"So, if she slips . . . ?" Krea asked.

"She's screwed." Yasha seemed somewhat excited by the idea.

"What about the King? Wouldn't he help bail her out if she slipped?" asked Nieesha.

"That's if the King likes her the same way, and there are some people even the King can't control."

Krea's face lit up when she realized what Aria was referring too. "The Witches."

* * *

"Nabooru, Shadow's not going to hurt you. Are you, boy? No, you're a good boy!"

"Ok. Stop. Don't _ever_ do that again."

"Do what?"

"You're talking to a horse!"

"He's a much better listener then you." Ganondorf patted the large horse's shoulder.

"I'll listen," Nabooru said in an almost pathetic voice.

Ganondorf laughed. It was deep and Nabooru liked it so much she forgot to be annoyed with him.

"Since when do you listen to anything?"

"Since now."

Ganondorf raised an eyebrow. "Get over here then."

Nabooru rolled her eyes and realized she didn't think this through as she reluctantly entered the stall.

"Touch the horse."

Nabooru gave Ganondorf a disbelieving look before she outstretched her arm and laid one finger on the horse's shoulder. Ganondorf came up behind her and took her hand, pressing her palm on the glossy black fur.

"See? This isn't that bad." He moved her hand up and down Shadow's neck. Shadow moved his head over to sniff Nabooru hair. "And he likes you."

"I don't see why you love this animal so much. He eats too much, makes a racket, smells--"

"Would you like to ride him?"

"Did you not hear what I just said?"

"I've gotten the impression that you always mean the opposite of what you say, but I've been wrong before."

Nabooru pulled away. "You know, I'm not enjoying this whole 'listening' thing. I think I'll stop.

"Ganondorf!" They both turned their heads to the sound of Yazzman's voice. Jennie had passed on the Second in Command job to Yazzman last year. Yazzman was trilled. Nabooru was not. That job was supposed be her's! It wasn't until Yazzman reminded that she was only 14 at the moment and had plenty of time to have the job later that Nabooru calmed down. "Moblins have just been seen!"

"Where?! Is anyone hurt!?"

"No. We lost them, but . . ."

"Koume and Kotake?"

"They want you to bring some of them back."

Ganondorf groaned. "I _hate it_ when they do this!"

"At least they want them dead this time."

"Cool!"

"Nabooru? You in there?" Yazzman stuck her head into the stall.

"I was helping the King with his horse." Nabooru heard Ganondorf make an incredulous sound but she ignored him. "I better get ready."

Yazzman gave an irritated sigh when she realized that Nabooru had every right to go and she couldn't tell her no. That was her favorite part of being the mom . . . or superior . . . or better.

Ganondorf saddled up Shadow and started off with the hunt. Some of the other Gerudo came with him, one naturally being Nabooru. He hated hunting Moblins most out of all the things he'd hunted. Moblins were bigger, stronger and smarter than regular animals, and carried weapons. They were dangerous and sometimes they would attack the Fortress for no reason, killing people. Ganondorf was fine if they would just leave them alone, but no, Koume and Kotake wanted him to go look for them! What the Hell!? Yes, that's smart. That's brilliant. Let's go _look_ for something that hates us! What bothered Ganondorf the most is what Koume and Kotake did with the carcasses . . .

The first time Ganondorf ate horse, he hadn't known what he was eating. It wasn't until he realized some of the horses were missing, and asked where they were did he find out. He became upset but soon accepted the fact.

The first time Ganondorf ate Moblin, he threw up, even before he knew what he was eating. The Witched wanted their King to be big, strong, and powerful. Meat was hard to find and anything would do for the Witches. Ganondorf didn't know if the rest of the Gerudo ate it or if the Witches saved it just for him. He never really asked anyone about it. If they were allowed or even would, if they were given the chance. Ganondorf wanted his people to have the better food anyway. If he had to eat Moblin then fine. Moblins probably ate Gerudo. What else was there to eat? Life was tough that way.

The Moblins had not gone far and they were easy to find, but as soon as they were spotted, so were the Gerudo. There was no hesitation on either side. Ganondorf drove his heels into his horse. Shadow's head shot up in the new excitement. The Moblins rushed at them.

Moblins were up to nine feet tall and pure muscle. The sun lit up their brown skin as one lifted his sword. Its face was deformed and pig-like with its teeth bared. The Moblin's throaty roar was cut off as Ganondorf lopped of his head. Blood flew though the air as the body fell to the ground. Ganondorf had the advantage of being on a horse, and so did the other Gerudo, but the Moblins soon discovered this. Three rather large Moblins charged at Ganondorf. He thought they would split up, for he was galloping straight for them, but they never changed their direction. They made a wall with their bodies, blocking his path.

Shadow crashed into three full-grown Moblins. Shadow's front end was forced to stop, Ganondorf, falling over the horse's head and unto to a Moblin, but the momentum made Shadow's hind end keep going, causing the large horse to flip over. Shadow landed on his back, barely missing Ganondorf, not missing an unfortunate Moblin.

Ganondorf felt like the sky collapsed on him. He would've liked nothing better than to lie there until the pain went away, but he felt movement from under him. Miraculously one of the Moblins had survived the collision. The Moblin crawled out from under Ganondorf, holding a long rusty knife. Ganondorf was faster and stabbed the thing in the chest.

He painfully made himself into a sitting position, his back screaming at him. The other Gerudo were in the fight too. Many of them had fallen for the same trick and were horseless. A couple looked at him to make sure he was all right, but they were sort of busy and left him on his own. He stumbled to his feet just in time for another Moblin to come after him. His eyes narrowed and he let the thing charge.

Nabooru was one of the ones who had become horseless, but she liked it better that way. Nabooru wasn't really _in_to horses. She liked it better being down on the ground with the enemy. At the moment, her brilliant self had decided to take on four Moblins. They had surrounded her. Perfect. She dodged and twisted away from the pinwheel of flying swords and spears. She was small, so she was a hard target. Moblins were slow and stupid compared to fighting with the other Gerudo. What was annoying were their armor. She had to find chinks in the armor by their necks or under their arms. She'd get a cut in there, but it wasn't enough to stop the huge beast. They were bleeding to death, but they kept on attacking her. Eventually they'd topple over from blood loss. Nabooru found this very annoying. It took too much time and slowed her down.

Nabooru was on her sixth kill when an extra large one decided he didn't like the looks of her. He was probably the alpha of the group and, to Nabooru's joy, he was armor less to expose his muscular chest. As fast as lightning, before the slow mind process of the Moblin could get working, she thrust both her scimitars into its stomach. The Moblin screamed, but to Nabooru's horror, didn't fall. She tired to pull the swords out, but they were stuck.

"Uh-oh."

The Moblin tried to wrench away, dragging Nabooru along. Nabooru heard a growl behind her, as another Moblin readied its attack. Nabooru let go of her beloved swords and ducked right before the second Moblin smashed his sword in the first. The dying Moblin became angry and brought the second down with him. As Nabooru watched them finish each other off, she felt dismay. How would she ever find her swords in that mess?!

And yet another Moblin was coming at her. Hmm. Moblin . . . no swords . . . It swung at her. She ducked. It swung at her again. She dodged. She could run away . . . yeah, that sounded like a good idea . . . No! Running away!? What was she thinking?!

Ganondorf finished off a Moblin and took a look around to see how everyone else was doing. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that nobody seemed dead. All of them were busy though. Then he saw Nabooru playing cat and mouse with a Moblin, completely weaponless. "NABOORU! RETREAT!" His loud voice was impossible to not hear. Nabooru even looked at him. She had defiantly heard his order. Why was she ignoring him? "NABOORU! RETREAT! NOW!" She refused to, barely escaping the next blow. "NABOORU!" The Moblin grabbed Nabooru's arm.

_No!_ As the panic raced through his body, so did a power. Running toward Nabooru he knew he couldn't make it. He also knew he didn't have to. He thrust his fists forward, purple fire exploding out of them, ramming into the Moblin.

Nabooru stared at the smoking corps. Sure, now he'll get all the credit. Ganondorf rushed over to her and grabbed her arm, yanking her over so that they were face to face. Nabooru briefly thought over what was more dangerous, the Moblin, or Ganondorf.

"Nabooru! Why didn't you listen to me?! When I give an order, you listen!" He shook her, and he knew that he was hurting her, even if her expression didn't say so. All the Moblins were dead. The rest of the Gerudo had surrounded them and they were all watching them. None of them tried to calm him down. They would let him do what he want. He was their king. "You could have been killed . . ." His anger started to bleed out. Nabooru just looked at him flatly and it annoyed him a little. "If you keep disobeying orders, you could seriously screw up a mission."

Nabooru rolled her eyes. "So am I getting punished or something?"

Ganondorf narrowed his. "Yes. Once I think of something. I _will_ train you to obey me."

Nabooru made a wry smile. "When I grow a second head."

* * *

Ganondorf slammed the door open, causing both Koume and Kotake's head to shoot up. Dragging in the body of a Moblin he dropped it on the floor.

"Only one?" asked Koume.

"We couldn't carry the rest. There's a bunch out there in the desert. You want more, get them yourself."

Kotake went over to Ganondorf and took his hands. "Oh, why so mad?"

Ganondorf looked away. "I hate . . . doing this."

"Doing what, dear?"

"Everything." He slumped onto a chair.

Kotake laughed.

"Ganondorf," Koume came over. "You must remember that you are so strong. You can over come any and all obstacles that come your way."

Ganondorf smiled. "Damn obstacles."

"You will crush those obstacles because you are King of the Gerudo!"

"Yeah, ok. I'm the King and have to make stuff happen." He sighed. "It's just hard."

"Life is hard." _Someday, Ganondorf will even be King of all Hyrule too_, thought both the Witches and the looked at their King lovingly.

* * *

"What!? Mucking out stalls?!"

"That's what Ganondorf says." Yazzman was leaning against the barn door holding a rake.

"With the horses?!"

"Well, they're the ones that live in the stalls."

Nabooru made an irritated noise. _Horses_.

Yazzman tossed her the rake. "Have fun." Finally, someone was teaching Nabooru a lesson. Yazzman left.

Nabooru went to work. Half the time she was swearing at the horses, the other time she was swearing at Ganondorf. Was it worth it? She hung out with the King because the closest she was to him, the closer she was to being Second in Command. Stupid Ganondorf. "Oh I'm the King so you have to obey me!" she said in the lowest voice she could muster. "Oh your Majesty! I'm sorry for disobeying you! How can you ever forgive me?!" She sobbed to one of the horses. The horse ignored her. "I know! You can hardly live because I'm so revolting and worthless! Let me help you with that problem!" She stabbed her rake in a pile of horse manure . It felt good so she did again . . . and again, completely missing that she was making a mess and it'll just be harder to clean up later.

"Nabooru?"

She looked up to see Niesha, Aria, Yasha and Krea. "Hey, if you guys came over here just to make fun of me, I'll throw horse crap at ya."

"Nabooru, we have something serious to talk to you about," said Niesha. "It's about the King."

Nabooru raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

Aria suddenly threw her arms around her. "Don't do it, Nabooru! You'll get in so much trouble, and horrible stuff will happen and both you and the King are too young and it's sooo against the rules!"

"Kay . . . what the hell she talking about?" Nabooru pointed at the distressed Gerudo.

"Nabooru," Yasha said, "Are you sleeping with the King?" The girl's discussion over if Nabooru had a 'crush' or not, had some how turned into 'passionate affair' or not."

"What!?"

"Ok, maybe not as to sleeping with him, but you do hang out with him a lot," Niesha said almost guiltily.

What!? No! What the hell!? No! No."

"What's the matter Nabooru?" asked Krea smugly. "Why are you so worked up? I thought you were always the naughty rebellious type."

"Ganondorf and me are just friends . . . well kinda."

"Kinda?"

"I'm not sleeping with Ganondorf!!"

"She sounds pretty guilty to me. If she wasn't, she would have admitted to it even if she didn't." Nabooru did tend to admit to things that she didn't do. It added onto her ego.

"This is different!!"

"That's because this time it's true, isn't?" Krea was enjoying herself far too much.

"No!" Nabooru threw her rake down in frustration. "I _hate_ Ganondorf."

"But Nabooru," Niesha tried to say in a calm voice. "If you hate him, why do you waste your time with him for?"

Nabooru screamed. "Screw you guys!" she stomped out of the barn. She turned around, still walking backwards she screamed, "I'M NOT SLEEPING WITH GANONDORF!!!" in a last desperate attempt to change their minds. Not paying attention, she slammed into someone.

It was Ganondorf. He had heard her. His face was . . . a mix of surprise, shock and a little disturbed.

Nabooru did everything she could to keep her embarrassment down and failed.

"AAAAGGGGGGGHHH! GET OUTTA MY WAY!" and she was gone.


	7. Chapter 7 Secret

An: To all who actually read this . . .which is like . . .two people. Sorry 'bout the wait. You thought I had stipped, didn't you? HA! I've been working on my other story's. People seem to like them more. I really don't know why. Probably becasue this one's too long. Oh well. I don't care. I'll keep it as long as I want it because that's the way my brain wanted it. It's not like I have contole of this sort of thing. (rolls eyes)

Hahahaha! Has it come to anyones attention that the Prince is 27, married to a beautiful wife _and_ still a virgin? HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!! (sorry Case. But I can't help it.) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Chapter 7

Secret

"Nabooru! You ditched your responsibilities yesterday!" Yazzman scolded. She glared down at her daughter, pleased that she still had several inches over her.

Nabooru shrugged. "My friends–" she shot a dirty look at them; they looked away and pretended they weren't listening "–distracted me, and started talking about . . . stuff . . . that's NOT TRUE!" She screamed the last part in their general direction. Laughing, they turned and ran.

Yazzman sighed. "That's no excuse."

"Sure it is! I hate mucking out the stalls, anyway. Why'd Ganondorf make me do that? Stupid _King_, everyone has to do what he says." It thoroughly bothered her, and she crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.

"Well, the King will just have to assign you a new punishment, then."

"WHAT?!" Nabooru stared at her mother incredulously. "Did you not hear what Krea and the others were TALKING ABOUT?! Isn't that enough punishment?"

"Nope," Ganondorf replied over her shoulder. She almost gasped, but bit her tongue. No way was this jerk going to have the satisfaction of knowing that he surprised her. What now, stupid Y chromosome!

She turned her head a fraction to give him a sultry look, or what she thought was a sultry look. "You're not really gonna punish me even more than you already have, right?" she asked, batting her eyelashes..

Apparently she was not skilled in the ways of seduction, because Ganondorf just laughed. "Well, I've decided that instead of mucking out stalls . . ."

_Yes! _Nabooru mentally cheered.

"I'll be nice, since I'm such a wonderful King . . ."

_Yes!_

"You can go out and bring the dead Moblins in to Koume and Kotake."

_No!_

"What!" Nabooru shouted.

Yazzman glanced from Ganondorf to Nabooru and back, then excused herself and left.

"You have a cruel, twisted mind," Nabooru said.

"Well, Koume and Kotake wanted me to do it, and you disobeyed orders, so this way everyone wins, and I don't have to do anything."

"Lazy," she told him.

"How do you know I don't have important kingly duties?"

"I can't even lift one Moblin! How am I gonna do all 12!"

"Take one of the horses with you."

"But! . . . The horses . . . aren't . . .strong enough either. Don't you want to give them a rest?"

"Nabooru," he said in a warning tone

She opened her mouth, then closed it. "I hate you. Know that _I _. . . _hate_ . . . _you_."

"Nabooru go, before the carrion birds get them."

She stomped out the door. Before leaving she screamed, "And I've always hated you and I always will!"

"Maybe I'm being too hard on her," murmured Ganondorf to Yazzman who actually never left.

"Hard? Hell no! Driving horses and mucking stalls is not hard. I know hard. Nabooru is so undisciplined that she's a shame to the whole Gerudo race. I guess that's my fault. . ."

Ganondorf gave Yazzman a sympathetic look. "I think there might be something else that's bothering Nabooru that's making her act worst then usual though."

"Hmm?"

"Ah . . ."_ I'M NOT SLEEPING WITH GANONDORF!!_! "Nothing."

* * *

Nabooru used all her strength to drag the heavy body to the two horses. She barely got two feet before having to take a rest. "AAGH!" She dropped the body and kicked it. She bit back another cry of pain and slumped unto the ground. The horses turned their heads at her and stared. Stupid horses. Stupid Moblins. Stupid Ganondorf. Stupid Goddess damn desert! She was upset. She knew she was upset and it ticked her off further more. She hated Ganondorf. He was making her do this because he knew she'd have a hard time! Well maybe that was why it was called punishment. But still, she hated doing things she couldn't do. It made her feel small and useless. Ganondorf couldn't understand that. He was huge, powerful and the King. He was on top. She'd always only be second best. 

"Unless he died." Nabooru mused. "I bet Ganondorf's fat head is going to cause him to fall over and off the edge of a cliff." One of the horses snorted in answer. "That's right, and you know who take over once that happens? Me. I'll be on top." Like that would ever happen. Nothing could kill Ganondorf. He was so strong. Nabooru wanted to be strong like that. Strong like Ganondorf. Ganondorf probably could lift this Moblin with one arm. She'd show him. She'd bring all the moblins back, one at a time, if it took all day. She was strong too.

* * *

Yazzman sighed. She hated telling Ganondorf bad news. She reluctantly made her way to the throne room. She was greeted by the two guards and then she entered. The room was dark, the only light coming from the torches that lined the wall. The overhanging light wasn't lit. It was difficult to light and only Ganondorf ever did it. Today he must not have cared. He sat on his stone throne, sideways, so that one leg was draped over the armrest, his fingers fiddling with a small knife, deep in thought. Yazzman realized with a pang of guilt just how young her King really was. 

"Your Majesty," Your Majesty? When did she start calling him that? What did she used to call him? Kid? She hadn't called him that since he was small.

Ganondorf looked up.

"Well . . ."

"How's the food supply?"

"We've caught like two Guay and 10 Leevers today–"

"That's it?"

"Ah, yeah and-"

"Yazzman, I want more people on hunting patrol. Have most of the guards go. We should stop worrying about our defenses so much. Food is more important now anyway--"

"Your Majesty, we have another problem."

"What?"

"We haven't found water in a long time."

"How much do we have left?"

"'Bout enough to last us 5 more weeks."

"We've still got time--"

"Ganondorf, there isn't water anywhere. We've looked everywhere. We have never gone so deep into the desert as we have now. It hasn't rained since Goddess knows when. What are we going to do?"

"We could go the other way," Ganondorf said, not looking at her but deep in thought.

"In Hylian territory?" Yazzman raised an eyebrow. "If a Hylian sees us, they won't let it go."

Ganondorf groaned. He didn't want to get mixed up with the Hylians. He wasn't too worried about the Hylians starting something--they wanted to stay away from them as they possibly could--it was his Gerudo. The Gerudo were angry that the Hylians hated them and would most likely start a fight, which would get the Hylians angry and probably cause a war. The Gerudo wanted a war. He could tell. They wanted to do something about their hopeless situation, but their numbers were few. He didn't think they could survive a war. Could _he_ fight in a war?

"Your Majesty . . . Ganondorf? What do you want us to do?"

"What do you think we should do?"

Yazzman looked slightly taken aback. She shrugged.

Ganondorf sighed. "The girls are restless and edgy. They want to fight. They blame the Hylians for not helping us."

"Do you blame the Hylians?"

Ganondorf squeezed the wooden handle of the knife so hard that it snapped. Hylians were what killed Giselle, Hylians were the ones too selfish to help them, Hylians were the ones who banished them to the desert. "I . . . don't want to go to war," he said finally. "We'd kill ourselves if we went to war."

"We'll kill ourselves if we stay here," was all Yazzman said.

* * *

"Hey, Nabooru, what have you been doing all day?" Krea asked smugly. Nabooru didn't answer but just rammed her shoulder into Krea's as she past her into her room. It had taken 5 and a half hours to bring all the Moblins back home. She needed rest. She went to her room where she shared with all the other girls of her age group, and collapsed onto her bed. Unfortunately, Krea followed. "Where's the King?" 

Oh for the love of . . . "I haven't seen him since this morning," she mumbled into her bed. She swore if Krea said one more word about Ganondorf, she would personally slice off her head.

"Oh," Krea said in a voice that irritated the hell out of Nabooru. "What were you doing with him this morning?"

Nabooru shot up from the bed. "Ok! You know what!? If you want to fight let's take this outside so I can whoop your pretty little ass and you leave me alone!"

"Someone's not in a happy mood," she said, but she had a smile on her face. She'd been practicing hard this week. She'd finally beat Nabooru this time. "Sure, though."

"Perfect. Don't disappoint me." A smile slowly spread across Nabooru's face too. "Again," she added. This is what she lived for, Beating the crap out of Krea, fighting, sword fighting.

Krea glared at her, then left to go outside.

They went out to the Archery Course. Some of the younger Gerudo came to watch. As fast as lightning, Krea drew her scimitars, spinning them around so fast that for a second, they were invisible. Nabooru drew hers out slowly, enjoying the sound it made as it cleared the sheath. Twirling it around her fingers, she stretched out her arms. They were a little sore from the Moblins. Her arms, fingers and scimitars, moving together like water. Their eyes met for spilt second before–CLASH!--Nabooru pushed a sword away immediately meeting the other one, then the other one then the other one. The speed gradually increased, keeping time with Nabooru's heart. She took a step to the right then another so they started to circle each other, while still striking with their swords. Suddenly Krea thrust upward; Nabooru did a back bend and the swords barely missed her nose. To keep her balance, Nabooru spun around on her toe, bringing her scimitars with her, crashing into Krea's side, but Krea was able to save herself with a block. They continued on, spinning and twirling, like a dance.

Ganondorf squinted in the sun as he left the Fortress. He made his way to the stables so that he could get Shadow and the other horses and go off hunting for water. He'd take it easy today. Shadow was limping since the Moblin accident. At the Archery Course, he saw Nabooru and Krea fighting. He sighed. He hoped they didn't hurt each other.

He stopped to watch them. Nabooru seemed to be over him . . . Well at the moment anyway. There was a smile on her face, and a healthy flush in her cheeks. She was obviously having fun. Krea . . . had a frown on her face. Krea _always _had a frown on her face. He was a little worried about her. Of course he was always worried about Nabooru. He was constantly worried about Nabooru. _Nabooru, don't do that! Nabooru, listen to me! Nabooru, get out of there!_ Nabooru, Nabooru, Nabooru. He never thought about any Gerudo more than Nabooru. As he watched the two girls fight, he realized how startlingly pretty Nabooru was. Her long red hair whipping around her every time she turned, her bronze skin shining under the sun, her golden eyes. Even the way she moved, so graceful like water. Water. He needed to find water. He shook his head and continued to head for the barn. He'd find water out there. The others simply didn't look hard enough. There _was _water out there. The Moblins were still living out there. There must be water someplace.

There was a startled cry and Ganondorf looked up. Krea was on her back, one of Nabooru's curved swords at each side of her neck.

Nabooru sighed. "I win . . .again." She stepped back to let Krea get up. "When are you going to learn that I'll always be better then you?"

Krea was glowering. She had noticed Ganondorf too. "Shut up. Why don't you go run off with your lover," she said nodding her head towards Ganondorf.

Nabooru rammed her fist into Krea's jaw and when she went down, Nabooru was on top of her. The other Gerudo who were watching soon joined the pile as they tried to separate the two.

Ganondorf put a hand over his eyes. He hadn't heard what was said, but he definitely did not have time to deal with it now. _He_ had to find water, because they needed water! He was the King, he had to do what they needed, like find water. Not stop stupid fights. Water, water, water.

* * *

"_. . .The secret of the Triforce has been a Mystery since the dawn of time. If it truly exists, one must seek in the Lost Woods but shouldn't because The Lost Woods is in the country of Hyrule, that doesn't exist . . ."_

Wait, yes it does.

" _. . . The Triforce does not exist. It is only a legend . . ."_

"_Finding the Triforce is easy! Just hold a chicken upside down for 20 minutes under a full moon in the country of Termina . . ." _

Daphnes slammed the book shut. Who wrote these books? Deranged people!? When Daphnes thought about it he realized the answer was yes. Yes, deranged people. Only deranged people ever did anything Triforce related. He was deranged.

"Prince Daphnes, your wife has come to see you," said one of the servants by the door of the Library.

Daphnes' back straightened. _Zelda!_ "Come in."

Zelda walked in as beautiful as always. She had told her ladies in waiting to stay behind. Her dressed dragged on the floor and there was a small smile on her face. "Daphnes."

"Hi Zelda." She sat in the chair across from him, arranging her skirts around her.

"What are you doing in the Library?" she asked, putting her elbows on the table and resting her chin in her hands.

"Well . . . nothing! Nothing at all. I'm sitting here."

Zelda's eyes looked sad at that so he added, "It's stupid."

"It can't be so bad you couldn't tell me," she said craning her neck as she tried to see the tittle of the books he had.

"Ok, but you're going to think I'm crazy. Yesterday when I was out hunting–"

"You were out hunting?"

Daphnes winced. That didn't sound good. "Yeah. I didn't mention that? It was this thing I had to do with Frederick . . . I DIDN'T KILL ANYTHING!"

Zelda bit her lip and tried to hide a smile. "Anyway, when you were out hunting . . . and not killing anything . . ." she prompted.

"Oh, right! I met this talking owl–"

"A talking owl?"

"Yes. I hit my head. On the horse. It kicked me. So this owl told me about the Triforce. He wants me to go look for it. I know he does because he kept denying that he knew where it is but I didn't believe him and . . . and then I did. . . and . . . and. He wanted me to find the Triforce . . . but I don't know why . . ." Daphnes eyes were far away and he was more talking to himself then he was to her.

"Daphnes?" It came out in a whisper.

Daphnes blinked. "I'm deranged. You think I deranged don't you! But let me tell you that I was _hit_ in the_ head_ by a _horse_! So I have a right to be deranged!"

"Daphnes! Daphnes . . ." She took his hands. "Calm down. Is it possible that the Goddesses have sent you a vision?" she said as she looked into his eyes. She was honest to Din serious.

"Possibly. . .I'm just so confused."

"It's ok. If anyone can find the Triforce you can. The Goddesses mean you to find it."

Daphnes smiled. "Thank you." Daphnes was so totally in love with this girl. She believed him when no one else would. He suddenly remembered that Zelda must've wanted to speak with him for a reason, and here he was ranting about his problems. He took his hands back. "Zelda, was there another reason you came to see me then just to say hi?"

Zelda sat back and looked away, playing with her fingers. "Yes, it's absurd that I feel this way. I mean really, I'm not old at all, only 23, but we've been married for two years and usually others have at least one by now, and your mother is being horrid on the subject!"

Daphnes was idly playing with his pencil. Was Zelda ranting? She never ranted. "Zelda, what are you saying?"

"When do you think we should start thinking about an heir?"

Daphnes starting choking on nothing, and then coughing. He pounded his chest to try to get it under control.

"Daphnes, are you ok?"

He nodded as he composed himself. "Just some dust," he said in a high voice. He folded his hands together. "What were you saying?"

"It's just . . ." Her voice went into a whisper. "We haven't even tried yet."

He nodded stupidly, not really comprehending what she was saying.

"I'm–I'm a little scared."

"Of what?"

"I'm . . . afraid of having a baby. I'm so thin . . . what if I'm not built to deliver a baby? What if there's a problem? My body has always been sickly. I'm pathetic."

Daphnes looked at her. "If you're not ready. We don't have to. We can wait a year. We can wait 10 years! We can wait 20! Heir?! We don't need an heir!" _What the hell am I saying!?_

Zelda smiled. "Yes, we do, Daphnes. Of course, if I died, it's not the end of the world. You could always remarry."

She threw it out so casually that Daphnes heart broke. "Zelda." He got up from his chair and moved to the chair next to Zelda. Their knees touching, he took her hands. "You are . . . a great princess." _That didn't sound stupid. _"Zelda, I lo–"

"Your Highness! The King has requested you presence!"

"You are busy," Zelda said. "We will finish this conversation later." She gracefully rose to her feet and left.

His head hit the table with a thunk. He just sat there, not thinking.

"Um, Your Highness. The King . . ."

"Yeah, yeah." He sighed and made his way to the throne room, where his father was waiting.

"Son," the King said as Daphnes entered. "There is a concern that your mother and I have."

"What?" he asked, sitting down in his throne.

His father looked immensely uncomfortable. "Well, you see, it's about an heir . . ."

Daphnes' head hit the armrest of his throne with a thunk.

* * *

Zelda was sitting up reading when Daphnes entered. Or, at least, she thought it was Daphnes. He was buried under a towering pile of books. 

Her expression was confused as she watched him throw books down onto the bed. "What are these for?" she asked politely.

"The Triforce."

"You're not planning on sleeping with all those books, are you?"

Daphnes raised a finger and opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"Are you planning on coming to bed at all?"

"I don't know yet."

Zelda suppressed a sigh.

"But Zelda, I think I'm getting somewhere!" He pulled out a notebook and to Zelda's surprise, crawled onto the bed next to her, holding out the notebook in front of her. "You know of the seven Temples?"

"Yes."

"Temples are used for worshiping,"

"I'm aware of that Daphnes," Zelda said with a smile.

"Temples are shrines to . . .holy stuff. . .and the Triforce is holy! So therefore, the Triforce is in the Temples!"

"All of them?"

"Yes! . . .No, but it's safe to assume that if the Triforce is anywhere, it is in a holy place and the holiest places I can think of are the Temples. I decided to go about this in a process of elimination method." On the notebook were written the seven different temples in order, one Light, two Forest, three Fire, four Water, five Shadow, six Spirit, and seven Time. He circled the Light temple. "The Light Temple seems to have a very big chance of being the one. It's the first to be mentioned in every history book, and it is associated with Light. The Triforce being associated with light too. Light symbolizes divine and purity. So one would think that the Triforce was in the first temple, the light Temple. But that's saying the Goddesses are purely good . . . and they're not. They're neutral."

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not just making this harder then it already is?"

"But Zelda, nobody knows where the Light Temple is!"

"Wouldn't that make it the perfect place to hide the Triforce?"

"That's what I thought at first . . . but that owl _wants_ me to find the Triforce. The Goddesses _want_ me to find the Triforce. If they want me to find it, they wouldn't put it in some place that is impossible for me to get to. So that rules out the Light Temple."

"Ok . . ."

"Then there's the Forest Temple. It's a place that I could get to . . . well maybe not without help, but nobody would go to the Forest on their own, making it a good place to hide it. The same goes with the Fire and Water Temple. One's in a volcano, the other in a lake. All extremely dangerous places for me to got to, but if I had divine help, I could. . ."

"Daphnes, you're not going to hurt yourself with this Triforce thing, thinking the Goddesses will protect you, are you?"

"Wait, I'm not done. All those Temples have to be ruled out though, too. You know why? Because Forest represents green which represents Farore, while Fire represents red, which represents Din and Water represents blue which represents Nayru. Each Goddess is equal to the other, and not only one place would have the Triforce so none of those places would be the one!"

"Daphnes . . ."

"And the Spirit Temple is with the Gerudo and there is no way in Hell am I going to get there, so we'll just skip that one. That leaves me with Shadow and Time. Shadow is with the Sheikah, and Sheikah know tons about the legends! I think it's the perfect place to start my investigation! And the Temple of Time . . . well I've been there hundreds of times and there's nothing there."

"So basically, you're going to question the Sheikah about the Triforce."

"Um . . .yeah?"

"Good."

"It's not good, is it? It's horrible! It's a stupid plan!"

"I didn't say that."

"The Sheikah will probably hate me and try to kill me or something!"

"No they can't. They are loyal to the Royal Family."

"But that doesn't mean that they won't hate me!"

"No."

"Aagh! Why am I such a moron!?"

"You're not a moron Daphnes, you're just a prince worried about his kingdom and getting a tad obsessive. Why don't you think about something else right now."

"Something else, Something else, Something . . . else. . ."

Zelda closed her book and put on the bed stand. She looked at Daphnes in the eye.

"Oh! That! I talked to my Father about it and everything is ok. We're young, we can wait. My mother won't harass you on the subject further."

"Oh. Ok."

Daphnes yawned. "I guess I should go to bed and let you sleep now."

"Yeah."

As Zelda laid there in the dark, she felt partly relieved and partly frustrated with Daphnes. Yes, she was nervous about giving birth, but yet she still wanted to. She wanted to have something that she could love with all her heart. Something that would need her. All Daphnes could think of was of the Triforce. He probably cared about that more than he cared for her. It shouldn't have bothered her. She wasn't expecting him to be in love with her. It had nothing to do with love. It was all about politics. Yet still it did. She wished Daphnes would kiss her as if he meant it. She wished she could go to him to cry her eyes out. She wished he would tell her he loved her. She knew those were foolish girl thoughts but still she dreamed. She dreamed that someone would love her.

* * *

"Father, I want to visit the Sheikah!" 

The King began to choke on his omelet. "What?!"

"Dear," began his mother. "Why don't you invite the Sheikah here, instead of going to that . . . outrageous place?"

"But . . . I don't want to make them come all the way here. It'll be annoying for them . . . Don't you think?"

"I think what Daphnes is trying to say is that he wants to get out of the Castle," said Zelda, not looking up from her breakfast.

"Hmm. That's strange. You just went on that hunting trip. You seemed to tire yourself out very well after that. Would like me to plan you another one?" asked the King.

Daphnes' face turned red. "No. No more hunting trips, please. But I would like to visit the Sheikah . . . out of curiosity. I mean they did pledge their lives to serve the King. It's not like they can hurt me. Right?"

"Hmm . . ." the King thought. "Curiosity is the key to wisdom."

"Nohanson! I don't want my son going to . . .there!"

"Now, Maria, Daphnes is 20 now–"

"27," Daphnes muttered.

"Right, 27. He's quite capable of himself. Remember the hunting trip?"

"Can we stop talking about the hunting trip?!"

"Fine, but not without bodyguards," said the Queen.

"Mother, the Sheikah are bodyguards."

"Yes, but still . . . I don't trust them."

* * *

It was decided for Daphnes to have 20 bodyguards to travel with. He didn't argue; he wanted to get there as soon as possible. The Sheikah lived in the town of Kakariko. Kakariko was surrounded by a natural wall at the foot of Death Mountain. On the trip there . . . nothing happened. The guards were for really no purpose but to look showy. 

The entrance was barricaded by a set of huge doors. Eerily painted on the doors in red was an eye. Daphnes thought the paint looked disturbingly like blood.

After staring at the painted eye for awhile, one of the braver men stepped forward and knocked on the doors. "Here is Prince Daphnes of–" Before he could finish his announcement, the doors creaked open. "Ahh . . ." The man poked his head inside and looked around. "There's no one there," he said.

"Well they must be all further inside," said Daphnes. "Come on, there's nothing to be afraid of." They urged their horses forward.

Inside the town, were small houses, lining the streets. Each house was normal enough, as in they all had roofs, windows and a door, but all of them looked like they were empty. The streets were all deserted. The wind swept by them, causing Daphnes to shiver. Directly ahead of them was a well. As they got closer to it, Daphnes realized there was someone standing in front it.

"See there's someone over there. We can ask where we can talk to the leader here," said Daphnes.

The person appeared to be an old woman in a long cloak, her cowl covering her face. She was leaning on an old staff.

"Excuse me Ma'am, do you know where everyone has gone off to?" asked Daphnes.

"All that were here have now fled, for fear if they don't, they'd all be dead."

"Ah . . . really? Are you one of the Sheikah?"

"What I'm not, and what I am, I do not scream across the land."

"Er . . . could we speak to the one in charge around here?"

"Oh! Yes, yes! I know! You wish to speak to Orayo!"

" . . .Yes?"

"Follow me! Then you'll see!" The old woman started to move at an unusual fast pace.

"Wait!" It was sad to say that Daphnes had to run to keep up. The bodyguards trampled behind him.

The old woman stopped at a building. It didn't look different then any of the other houses except for the fact that it had no windows. The old woman knocked once on one part of the door, then once on another part of the door and so on. When she was done she murmured, _"Nioly si," _and then she turned back to them. "Enter only he and I. Do not worry, he won't die." she said pointing at Daphnes.

"Hey listen lady–" started one of the guards.

"Argue mustn't we, or will come great tragedy!"

"It's ok," said Daphnes. "I'll be fine. Besides, you guys can't all fit in there anyway."

There was a crafty glint in the old woman's, red eyes before she grabbed Daphnes' arm. "Hurry, we must. Don't just stand there, collecting dust!" She pulled him in.

Once inside, the door closed behind them, making everything pitch black. Daphnes froze with panic.

"Naya, would you light the torches for his Majesty? I think you're scaring him." The voice was soft and low. Oddly comforting in a frightening way.

"Boy is not bright. Does he know the difference of dark and light?"

"Naya, just light the torches."

She muttered something darkly in Sheikan and one by one the torches that lined the wall were lit.

When Daphnes could see, he found a man on his knees at Daphnes' feet, the man's face close the ground.

"Hi there," Daphnes said awkwardly.

"I apologize for Naya's somewhat disturbing introduction. You get used to it after a while," the man said. Then he stood in one graceful motion. He was a lot taller then Daphnes, taller then even Will. What was more alarming was the fact that he was blind, bandages covering what once were his eyes. Dark hair hung over the bandages. He was lanky and wore a skintight suit that had the same eye that they'd seen before painted on his chest. "My name is Orayo. I am in charge of the Sheikah. Sit." Orayo sat on the floor crossed legged. Daphnes did the same. "If I had known the Prince would be visiting, I would've made sure there were chairs. I am sorry."

"That's ok. Where is everyone?" Daphnes asked.

"Everyone?" Orayo asked in his quiet voice.

"Outside. There's nobody there."

Orayo put a hand to his head. _"Sa Sussika, Jinna . . ."_ He sighed. "There seems to be a misunderstanding," he told Daphnes. He suddenly sat more upright. "Don't be alarmed, but Jinna is entering."

Daphnes looked behind him were he had entered, thinking Jinna would be coming from there. There was a loud BANG and the air was filled with smoke. Daphnes fell over backwards with a startled cry.

He heard an angry voice of a woman.

"_Yah ni Sunkihah se–" _She looked at him for a second, her long black hair trailing behind her and her red eyes widened. _"Sa Sussika, nayay ie!"_ She bowed in the same matter as Orayo did before. "Forgive me your Highness! I did not realize it was you!" She was also tall, though not as tall as Orayo, and very beautiful.

"_So oon kun so oon siek na mo no auden anikay," _muttered Naya.

"_Kooli so?"_ Jinna replied cooly.

"_Shanado,"_ Orayo sighed. "I'm sure the Prince is not offended."

Daphnes shook his head rather nervously. "Of course not."

"_Sheikse kooen," _Jinna said not looking at Orayo, yet Daphnes knew she was talking to him.

"_Yah?"_ Orayo turned his head to her. She looked at him. They seem to have an entire conversation with just their eyes . . . except Orayo didn't have eyes. Daphnes must have missed something. Finally Orayo sighed. "Naya, will you bring Sheik in here before he harms any of Daphnes' men?"

"What?!"

"I assure you that no one is hurt," said Orayo. "Naya, Sheik?"

"Yes, yes! Oh what a mess!" said Naya as she left.

Outside shouts and cursing could be heard; the voices sounded a lot like Daphnes' men. Naya came back in, dragging by the ear a young Sheikah. This one had blond hair and was wearing a uniform similar to Orayo's. "Ow-ok _Kay! Yah ni Sunkihah!? Meinag ie doh, so einick niess!" _His voice was much louder than Orayo, Jinna or Naya's. Then again, Orayo, Jinna and Naya's voices were unusually quiet. The young Sheikah rubbed his ear with a frown on his face. He looked at Orayo. _"Yah, ni Sunkihahse ni ing!?_ _Si fus ist koolien yah Jinna sosaid!_"

"Sheik?"

Sheik turned to Daphnes with a confused expression on his face. "Who the Hell are you!?"

"Sheik!"

Jinna and Sheik started to argue in Sheikan until Sheik started to realize something and his voice slowly died down. " . . . Ah, shit."

"Sheik!"

"I mean, sorry your Majesty!" He gave a short bow that he didn't seem to mean before he sat down next to Jinna.

"I am sorry," said Orayo. "Sheik is . . . young."

Sheik rolled his eyes.

"I promise that he will be dealt with for his behavior later."

Sheik made a gesture of them cutting his throat.

"Oh! You don't have do that! There is no need to punish him. I took no offense," said Daphnes.

"I like this guy," said Sheik.

"Sheik, you must work on your behavior around your superiors. There will be those who will take offense, and those with power who will take offense and will punish you much more severely then we have."

Sheik was moving his mouth to Orayo's words while making faces. He had obviously heard this before.

"Sheik, I may be blind, but I don't need Jinna to tell me that you are mocking me right now," Orayo said with a small smile.

"You're blind!?" Sheik gasped, his voice dripping sarcasm. "I never knew that. I guess ya learn something new every day!"

"Sheik?"

"Yeah?"

"_Shanado."_

"Got ya."

Orayo turned to Daphnes. "We must seem terribly rude, your Highness. It's just that you caught us in surprise. What is the reason for your visit?"

"Well it's kind of stupid . . ."

Sheik raised an eyebrow. The rest waited patiently for him to continue.

"Ok," Daphnes closed his eyes as he tried to put things into words. "I think I had this hallucination of a talking owl that wanted me to find the Triforce." Sheik's eyebrows went even higher up his head. Orayo and Jinna's expressions did not change. "I thought that, since the Sheikah know so much about the old legends they . . . might . . . be . . . able to help me." Their expressionless faces were getting to him. The only one who seemed human was Sheik, and Daphnes knew that he thought he was crazy anyway. "I was thinking that the Shadow Temple–"

"You shouldn't go to the Shadow Temple," interrupted Orayo.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. It's too holy a place for you guys. I was asking for too much."

"No, it's not that. The Shadow Temple is a very dangerous place. It is crawling with unpleasant creatures and . . ."

"Bongo Bongo," Sheik finished, looking solemn.

"Yes. We have been trying to cleanse the area, but haven't been able to yet. We have lost many already."

"I'm sorry."

"But we do know a lot of the old legends. Would you like to visit the library?"

"Thank you."

"Most of our books are written in Sheikan, but a few are written in Hylian as well. I will send someone with you to help you translate anything you would want to know."

"I'll go," offered Sheik.

"_Nay!"_ both Orayo and Jinna said at the same time.

"Fine." Sheik put his hands up in defense.

Orayo sighed. "I'll go with you."

"You don't have to take the trouble," said Daphnes.

"It'll be my honor to escort the Prince. Jinna can take care things well I'm gone."

Jinna gave a little sigh.

They all went outside, Orayo picking up a lantern on the way out. Daphnes squinted at the sun. One of Daphnes' bodyguards had a bloody nose. "What happened?"

"Something attacked me out of nowhere!" said the man. He looked at the group of Sheikah and suddenly pointed at a very guilty looking Sheik. "It was that guy! He showed up from nowhere and rammed my face in!" Sheik darted back inside before anyone could even blink.

"I'm sorry. Would you like one of our doctors to look at your nose?" asked Orayo softly. The man looked at him and was unable to speak for a moment.

"No, I'm f-fine."

"Very well, I'm taking the Prince to the library."

They walked down the deserted street. Though no one was there, Daphnes had a strange sense that they weren't alone. "Ah . . ."

"Hmm?"

"I have a question . . ."

"I hope I have an answer," Orayo said with a smile.

"Well, I'm sure you get around all right, and stuff. . .'cause you live here. . .but . . . how are you going to translate things for me?"

"Do you doubt my ability to read?"

"No!" _Just your ability to _see.

They went into another small building and Daphnes wondered how much information he would get from such a small place. They walked into the first room and Daphnes saw . . . an empty room, exactly like the one they'd been in previously. Was this some kind of trap?

Orayo smiled at Daphnes' confused expression, though he couldn't see it. Daphnes was beginning to learn that Orayo could sense a lot more than most people.

"This way." He stepped toward the wall, which was perfectly bare. There were no distinguishing features besides its blankness. Orayo began running his fingers along the wall, murmuring to himself in Sheikan.

Daphnes was just beginning to doubt Orayo's sanity when he disappeared. "Orayo?" he called desperately. This was looking more and more like a trap. Weren't the Sheikah supposed to be on the Royal Family's side?

"Come, Your Highness," Orayo called. Daphnes slowly walked across the dim room, lit only by a few small windows. Half-hidden in shadows was a door. He forced himself through the door, fighting uneasiness and the need to run, into a black passageway. The second he was inside, the door closed shut with a bang that made Daphnes jump. As his eyes adjusted, he saw Orayo standing a few feet away, looking patiently amused. He gently crooked his finger at Daphnes, and began walking down the hall.

"Whoa!" Daphnes stumbled as there was suddenly no floor beneath his foot.

"The stairs are quite steep, Your Highness," Orayo continued. "Watch your step."

'Steep' was perfectly accurate. Each stair was about three feet tall, and Daphnes had to practically jump from one step to another. It only got darker as they went farther underground, until Orayo was merely a shadowy blob in front of him.

When the stairs ended, Orayo opened a door. Beautiful–though admittedly dim–golden light poured into the passage, and Daphnes had to fight to keep himself from shoving past Orayo into the room. When he entered, his jaw dropped. His eyes grew wide.

It was HUGE! Floor to ceiling bookshelves, each filled with books of varying dustiness. They appeared to go on forever, but the light in the room was weaker than Daphnes had first thought, and the ceilings and far walls were hidden by darkness.

Orayo lit his lantern, and led Daphnes over to a table. He plucked a book off the shelf and handed it to Daphnes. "Here," he said. "I think you might find this interesting."

The title was, to his immense relief, in Hylian. He opened it up, having to lean over the paper because the flickering light of the lantern was hard to read by.

Daphnes started to read the book. _"I have never seen the Triforce, but there is no denying that it may exist. The Goddesses were said to have placed it in a holy place, perhaps a shrine. The only shrine, that I know of in Hyrule is currently the Temple of Time, which was said to have been created on the land where the Goddesses themselves have been seen." _He skimmed the rest of page."But I know this already. I learned this in my lessons."

"What exactly do you want to learn about the Triforce?"

"Exactly where the Triforce is."

Orayo blew out a whistle. "That's some pretty high expectation."

Daphnes sighed. "I'm sorry." He paused. "Have you ever felt so sure of something that sounded so crazy before?"

Orayo smiled. "Does this have anything to do with that talking owl of yours?"

Daphnes groaned. "I am crazy."

Orayo chuckled. "Did this owl, by chance, give you his name?"

Daphnes rubbed his head trying to remember. "Kapa . . .Gappa . . . or something?"

"Ah! Kaepora Gaebora!"

"Wait! You know what I'm talking about?!"

"I've heard of him. Tricky little devil he it. Long winded too. Once you get him going, he won't shut up."

"So he's not some kind of demon or something?"

"Oh no, he's a messenger of the Goddesses."

"Yes!" With out thinking he flung his arms around Orayo. "This is good! That means finding the Triforce is my purpose in life!"

Orayo stiffened.

"Sorry!" Daphnes pulled away.

"That's ok."

"We'll just pretend that never happened."

"If you wish so."

"I wonder why Kaepora wants me to find the Triforce."

"It's a wondered why Kaepora does anything." Orayo flashed another one of his charming smiles. "Hey, the elders will probably skin me alive if I show you this, but you _are_ the Prince. Let me take you to another part of the library." Orayo led Daphnes down the hall to a smaller book shelf. He pushed the book shelf away, revealing a small door. He slipped a small key out from one of his gloves and unlocked it. Daphnes walked in to see . . . an empty room . . . again . . . surprise. Daphnes waited for Orayo to close the door. Then Orayo walked to the middle of the room, and suddenly disappeared.

"Orayo!"

"Sorry. I forgot about that. It's an illusion," came Orayo's voice. Daphnes hesitantly walked though the wall. The room had three book shelves lined up against the wall. In the middle of the room was a stand with a single book on it. The room was also covered in white flowers that seemed to glow. Daphnes realized that they didn't really need a lantern down here because the flowers lit up the room.

"Whoa . . ."

"Oh the flowers . . ." Orayo seemed almost embarrassed, if that was even possible. "Jinna comes down here a lot. She likes flowers. These ones can survive with out light."

"What's this book of?" It was cover was purple with delicate picture carved into it. In the middle was a relief of the eye that he seemed to be seeing everywhere.

"That's our promise."

"Promise?"

Orayo turned to Daphnes. "Do you not even know of the promise we made to your family?"

Daphnes blushed. Even if Orayo couldn't see it he had feeling her knew. "Ah . . . no. My mom . . .doesn't . . . no," he finished lamely.

"Well," started Orayo. "A long time ago, the Sheikah did not live in Hyrule. We were nomads, traveling to place to place. We did not see many other people than our own. As our population grew, we knew that we should start to look for a place to settle in. The place we picked was close to a village of Hylians. This was before the King and even before Hyrule. The Hylians were basically in little clumps of themselves, trying to stick together for protection. They were very wary and not very educated. They were not fond of their new neighbors.

"We were strange to them, are culture was different, with are strange rituals, foreign clothes," He turned hie head slowly in Daphnes' direction. " . . . red eyes. They did not accept us. They did not understand us, they feared us.

"They started to blame us for unexplainable things. Why did a miscarriage happen? It was because that Sheikah looked at me. Why did all the livestock die? Because that Sheikah put a curse on them. They thought we were witches, demons, devils, anything they could come up with. Great mobs of them would attack us, hang us up and burn us." Daphnes' eyes widened. "We never fought back. We were a peaceful race back then."

"I'm sorry. I hadn't realized how awful are histories are. I understand if there is bitterness for our race."

"I feel no resentment."

"But the others?"

Orayo smiled. "Maybe a little, but it is nothing serious and it is talked about more as a joke that the younger generation enjoy to tell."

"What?"

"Please don't ask. I don't quite understand it myself."

"Still though . . . I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm not done with my story. The leader of our tribe was a woman named Kisa. She was kidnaped one day, but before she was killed, a young man stopped them. That man was your ancestor, Daphnes. This was before he became a king. He did not think it was fair how they were treating the Sheikah. Unlike the Gerudo, we did not steal from them. We did not go around brandishing our weapons and screaming profanity. We just try to stay ourselves, whispering in to each other in our soft language.

"Your ancestor was a good man, the people liked him and he got them to listen to him. The Sheikah were no longer hunted, and Kisa was forever grateful." He paused for a second. "She pledged her services to him for life, as well as the other Sheikah. They trained themselves to fight for his sake only. The Sheikah played an important part to him gaining the throne over the rest of the Hylians, especially Kisa." He stopped and took a breath. "There is a part to the story that the Royal Family didn't record, for the simple fact that they don't know it."

"Won't the elders be mad for telling me something I'm not supposed to know?"

Orayo waved his hand. "Forget the elders. Besides, I want you to know."

"Ok."

"She loved him."

Kisa loved his great, great, great, great, great . . . ! Whatever! Could that mean he was part Sheikah? That would be so cool. He wouldn't be just Daphnes the boring prince, but Daphnes the boring prince that was part Sheikah.

"No, they did not marry or have a child," Orayo said like he was reading Daphnes' mind. "She never told him, and he never noticed. He had a wife, raised a family. Kisa was always at his side, doing everything for him."

"That's kind of depressing."

Orayo smiled. "Amazingly she was happy. Just seeing him happy made her happy. She loved him so much that she didn't care. The rest of the Sheikah followed her suit. We protect out of love. I just want you to know that you will never be in danger as long as we are there."

Daphnes didn't know what to say about that so he went to the purple book. "May I look at it?"

Orayo nodded. "Of course."

Inside, was written in Sheikan. After what Daphnes assumed was the promise was an extremely long list of names. Next to each signature was a small dot of blood.

"Once a Skeikah comes of age, they sign their name in, promising with blood to serve the Royal Family."

Daphnes flipped all the way back to the very large book. "It goes all the way back to–"

"Kisa? Yes it does."

"Boy, you guys keep track of your records pretty well."

"That we do. Go on, look around. I don't need to bore you with our history any longer."

Daphnes skimmed though the titles of the books. Everything was in Sheikan. "Um . . . Everything's in Sheikan."

"Pick something and I'll read it to you."

Daphnes wanted tp say, "but you're blind!" but he refrained, and handed Orayo a random book.

Orayo opened it and pulled off his glove. Pushing the tips of his fingers in on the page he said, "Ah . . . this one. Day of 206, 5th moon. It has come apparent that we have awoken something with the building of the well. An ancient, invisible being has been responsible for the mysteries of the accidents that have been recently occurring."

"How do you do that?"

Orayo turned his head to the sound of Daphnes voice.

"What?"

"Read. How can you see the words?"

Orayo smiled. "I don't see them. I can feel the ink on the page, and the pen usually leaves an indentation."

Daphnes rubbed his hand across the paper. It felt perfectly smooth to him. He decided to ask a new question. "Orayo?"

"Hmm?"

"How . . .how did you lose your eyes? Sorry!" Daphnes added quickly. He didn't want to ask anything that Orayo didn't want to answer.

"It's ok. It happened a long time ago." He laid a hand across where his eyes used to be. "When I was still young, I was foolish enough to try to defeat Bongo Bongo myself. He is the invisible being mentioned in the book. He can only be seen though a lens made by an extremely rare rock. The only rock known to our people was made into a relic called the Lens of Truth. I took this down to the well with me. I failed to defeat Bongo Bongo. I wasn't nearly experienced enough to handle such an enemy. I was cocky and overconfident. Two qualities that I fear are strong in Sheik too. Anyway, the relic was in the shape of an eye, one like the Sheikan symbol. It had three spikes on top of it to represent eyelashes. When Bongo Bongo slammed the Lens of Truth into my face, the spikes ran into my eyes."

Daphnes gaped at Orayo, horrified.

"Wound up losing the Lens of Truth down there too. Most embarrassing mistake I ever made," Orayo said with a smile. "You don't 'lose' a sacred relic."

Daphnes sighed. It sounded like something _he'd _do.

"Let's not speak of our depressing history anymore, shall we? You said you were looking for the Triforce?"

Daphnes laughed nervously. "Yeah, sounds stupid I know . . .but I feel like I have to."

"Then let's get started."

Orayo read book after book to Daphnes, who was entranced by Orayo's quiet comforting voice. Daphnes lost all trace of time.

"Your Majesty? How long are you planning on staying her?"

Daphnes was brought back to reality. "W-what?! What time is it?!"

"18:00."

Daphnes winced and looked at the door. He didn't want to leave yet. "I didn't find out anything about _where_ the Triforce is! Zelda said the Goddesses meant for me to find it! Why are they making this so hard? Could Zelda be wrong?"

"Well, the Goddesses are female."

"So?"

"That's the reason why life is a living hell."

Daphnes burst out laughing.

Orayo smiled. "I'm glad you find that funny. Jinna never did. I can't understand why."

Daphnes sobered up a bit.

"Prince, the best place to hide something is always right under your nose."

Where had he heard that before? Didn't the owl say something like that? "I need to get going."

Orayo nodded. "I'll show you out."

AN: You knoe how the sheikah speak a different language? I was already to translate on what they say down here (I made it up, but it all has meaning) but I lost half my words!!! AHH!!! I need that index card . . .Maybe, if I find it, I'll be able to do that, but it's gone! (crys in arms) WHY!! Well this is a pickle . . . huh.

OMG! I found it! What are the chances it would be at my feet with all my school stuff from last year! Ok . . . Here we go.

Orayo said: _"Sa Sussika, Jinna . . ." "Oh Godesses, Jinna . . ."_

Jinna said:_"Yah ni Sunkihah se–" "What the Hell is-" _and _"Sa Sussika, nayay ie!"_ "_Oh Godesses, forgive me!"_

Naya said: _"So oon kun so oon siek na mo no auden anikay," "You would think you would notice with all those gaurds there."_

Jinna said:_"Kooli so?" "Do you?"_

Orayo said:_"Shanado," "Peace,"_

Jinna said: _"Sheikse kooen," "Sheik's coming,"_

Orayo said:_"Yah?"_ _"What?"_

Sheik said:"Ow-ok _Kay! Yah ni Sunkihah!? Meinag ie doh, so einick niess!" "Ow-ok Stop! What the Hell!? Let me go, you old women_!" and _"Yah ni Sunkihahse ni ing!?_ _Si fus ist koolien yah Jinna sosaid!_" _"What the Hell's the!?I was just doing what Jinna said!" _(Well . . .this being very difficult for me(I dropped out of German), I lost some of my words . . .I filled in some of the missinf pieces, but see that blank, that's in Sheik's translated dialogue? That's because I forgot what he said there. It's not real important as you can get the just that he's not happy. Just felt like pointing it out.)

Orayo: _"Shanado." "Peace."_

Orayo and Jinna _said "Nay!" "No!" _

Glad that's over. Almost gave me a heart attack there.

--Kid who's cap is sitting on her bed next to her


	8. Chapter 8 Don't Rat Us

An: To all you people that actually read this thing . . .I found this chapter quite funny. . . though I find a lot of things funny that nobody else does . . .I don't have much to say to you people. . .'cept this took me a long time to write, but I'm always like that

Chapter 8

Don't Rat Us Out

After seeing the Prince off with some very pissed off guards, Orayo walked down the dark passages that intertwined underneath Kakariko alone. Well, he knew he wouldn't be alone for long. He could sense Jinna coming down the passage. Her step was silent, but he could smell her fragrance. He soon realized that she didn't know that he was here. He smiled to himself, feeling a tad naughty. He never truly grew up.

He stood still, letting his body melt into the shadows. As soon as Jinna was close enough, he grabbed her wrist, slamming her into the wall. She just had enough time to gasp before Orayo crushed his lips against hers.

He pulled away when he thought that maybe she needed to breath._ "I caught you," _he whispered playfully in Sheikan.

She gave him a glare, that he could feel instead of see. _"It appears that you have."_

"_Was I hearing things, or did the Great Jinna gasp?"_

"_You know, Orayo, you're nowhere near as cute as you think you are."_

"_I asked a simple question. I was only wondering because I must catch you about 18 times a week."_

"_Yes, you always cheat!"_

Orayo laughed. He held on to her hands so that she wouldn't be able to teleport away from him. She could be annoying like that. _"How is it that I cheat?"_

"_You decide to play your stupid games spontaneously, and catch me off my guard!"_

"_Huh . . ." _Orayo thought about this for a moment._ "I thought you were always on your guard." _She tried to yank her hands from him and give him a shove, but he held fast.

"_How was you talk with the Prince?" _she asked, changing the subject.

"_I think we have become friends."_

"_You wished you had friends," _Jinna said flatly.

"_I thought you were my friend." _He pouted.

Jinna laughed. _"I'm too mean to have any friends."_

"_You _are_ mean,"_ he agreed. _"You won't play with me."_

Jinna sighed. _"How old are you?"_

"_Um . . ."_

"_How you became our leader I will never know!"_

He flashed her a charming grin that erased all of her annoyance. She intertwined her fingers with his and leaned close to him, letting her breath hit his face._ "Fine, we'll play your game."_ She kissed him slowly and deeply, slipping her fingers from his hands, and slipped them up his chest and to his shoulders. Hanging her hands over his shoulders, she pulled out a Deku Nut. She pulled away. _"Tag, you're it."_

_POOF._

She disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, the smell of ozone in the air.

Orayo smiled. He counted three seconds, the sprinted down the hall. Finding her was actually the more easy part. She left a trail of ozone where ever she went, it was getting her before she teleported again that was the hard part. He ran up the wall and changed direction when he felt her teleport again. He was getting closer.

Wait, there was someone else here. He stopped short.

"_Hello, Miko," _he greeted the younger man, who was giving him an odd look.

"_Just now . . . what were you doing?"_

"_Exercise," _he answered.

"_Oh . . . Have you seen Sheik?" _Miko asked in his low quiet voice.

"_I haven't seen much of anything," _Orayo replied with a smile. _"Why?"_

"_Besides the fact that I blame him for the source of my Hell?" _Miko growled, narrowing his red eyes that were partially covered by the bangs of his dark hair.

"_Yeah, besides that."_

"_Grandpa wants him."_

_POOF!_ Jinna was suddenly there. _"Miko," _she greeted warmly.

"_Seen Sheik?"_ Orayo asked her.

"_Nope."_

Miko sighed. _"Figures." _He was about to continue his search, but stopped. _"Was the Prince really here?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Why?"_

Orayo knew Miko was trustworthy, but he hesitated to tell the Prince's business. _"He was only researching a curiosity," _he finally said.

"_As long as he's not mad at us or anything," _Miko said, adding,_ "I guess I should find my brother," _before leaving.

"_Curiosity?" _Jinna asked.

"_He's looking for the Triforce."_

"_What?! Why?! What if he does something stupid with it!?"_

"_He says he has a 'feeling' that's telling him to do it."_

"_Oh, that makes perfect sense! If I had a feeling telling me to take my own life because I'm surrounded my idiots, doesn't mean I'd do it!" _

"_Actually . . . I'm getting a feeling that's telling me to do something right now."_

"_Oh yeah?! What's that?!"_

As quick as lightning, he grabbed her hands. _"Caught you," _and then he pinned her to the wall again and kissed her.

* * *

Daphnes stared up at the Temple of Time. It didn't look any different then it usually. It just stood there, boring as ever. A few people turned their heads at Daphnes as he walked past, but the place was quiet. Nothing was unusual or seemed to be filled with divine magic . . .BUT that was what the Goddesses _wanted _him to think. 

He pointed at the very top of the tower. "You! I know you're not what you seem!" The temple of course did not respond, but Daphnes knew he wasn't talking to the temple. No, there was something else.

He went inside. It was exactly the same as it always was. He stood before the altar, hand raised in command and in the most powerful voice he could make he said, "I, Daphnes, Prince of Hyrule, order to be shown the Triforce!"

Nothing happened.

He dropped his arm for a second, then raised it again and said, "I command you!"

Again nothing.

"Please?"

"Oh come on! Give me a break here! I don't know what the hell I'm doing!" He slumped to the floor. He tried to think, but really couldn't come up with anything. He sat there for hours, eventually rolling onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. He started to doze off and fell asleep staring at the writing on the ceiling.

He began to dream. Zelda was there. She was in the garden, looking at something he couldn't see. She turned around and Daphnes saw that she was pregnant. She smiled at him, but the smile went away as her attention went to something behind her. "Daphnes?"

He turned around, and there was the Triforce. The Triforce?! He needed to find that! He reached for it, but it exploded and the world was dark. He panicked. He had done something wrong. He ran blindly in the dark, until all of a sudden there were torches. He followed them, until he saw a man on a black horse. The man looked down at him with red-orange eyes, filled with loathing. The man turned his horse around and started to walk away.

"Hey! Who are you!" But the wind picked up, covering the man with sand.

"Daddy!"

What? He turned around, and there was a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Find me, Daddy."

_What?_ The girl started to run. He went after her.

"Find me! Find me! Find me!" she repeated. Then there were other children. The three that were in the lead were of a strange color. Red, blue and green. "Find me! Find me!" they all said. Other adults were chasing them too.

Then Daphnes ran into something. All the children went on through, but the adults were forced to stop too. The children stopped running and turned around to see why their parents had stopped. The blonde girl reached a hand to touch her face, then reached to Daphnes' face, but couldn't reach it. Daphnes put a hand out to her, but there was a glass wall in the way. He could see his reflection in the glass. He was older, and had a beard . . .he stroked it, trying to figure out how that had happened. Then looking back at the girl, he saw a blond boy come. The boy took her hand and began to lead her away.

"Wait! Come back!" All the kids began to leave; as they did so, he saw the Triforce leave with them. He beat upon the glass. "No! Come back!" Next to him came Zelda, only she wasn't pregnant anymore. She looked like how she did the last time he saw her. She passed though the glass too. Behind her was the pregnant Zelda. She leaned up against the glass, and slid to the floor.

"Only the pure can pass," came a voice, that sounded like the little girl's but he knew it wasn't. He leaned up against the glass, and felt himself go though. He looked back to see his older self still behind the glass. Touching his own face he found himself younger again. On the side of the glass with his older self, he saw that he recognized some of the adults. There were his parents, Will, Rosie, Orayo, pregnant Zelda, his older self . . .

There was a bright light behind him and he turned around. The three children stood before him. One red, one blue and one green. "Don't hurt us," they said in unison.

"What?"

Then the light got too bright to see. . .

Daphnes tried to open his eyes, but the light was too painful. His back hurt too. He forced his eyes open and saw the stained-glass window of the three Goddesses.

He shot up. He'd fallen asleep. He started to laugh. He had been dreaming. For some reason, the dream has disturbed him. He gave a tired sigh. It was probably the stress level or something. He idly looked back up at the words on the ceiling. . .Wait . . .

He got up too fast, and fell back down on the stone floor. The words! They were right there! Like under his nose! He studied them closer, but saw that they were written in Sheikan.

Damn!

But he knew Sheikan people! He could get one of them to read it for him! He scampered out of the Temple. He was about to go straight to Kakariko when he heard a voice. "I found him, Your Majesty!" said a voice of a guard, and before Daphnes knew it, he was swept up in the arms of his mother.

"Daphnes! Where have you been!" she cried into her son's chest. "You made your mother worried sick!

"Mother," Daphnes started, trying to un-cling himself. "I'm fine."

"Good, Good! Daphnes, you have to be at the meeting!"

"What meeting?"

She began to pull him to a carriage. The climbed in and the driver took them back to the castle. As they sat in the carriage, the Queen fixed up her hair and stared into a tiny mirror, trying to make herself presentable.

"What is this meeting about?"

The queen laughed. "I don't really know. Something about taxes. I heard that the Noble Alexander will be though. He's such a charming man . . ."

They arrived at the castle, and walking through the halls, the met up with Zelda. "We have a meeting?" Daphnes whispered to Zelda.

"Of course," she said, as if it was obvious. Maybe he should have been paying better attention to what his father was saying before.

"Daphnes, we have been planning this meeting for weeks!" his mother chided.

They were about to enter the meeting room, when the King came out. "Oh good, you've found him." He took Daphnes' arm, then turned to his wife. "Oh don't worry, we won't be needing you ladies. This is men's work." He pulled Daphnes close to him. "We'll be bonding, right son?"

Zelda thought she saw Daphnes' eye twitch.

Maria looked upset. "Oh . . .well . . .you didn't tell me that weeks before." Shr turned around. "I guess . . .I'll go back to my room." She walked off. The King stood there, watching her go with a smile on his face, completely oblivious. Daphnes watch her go with a frown, but didn't say anything. Zelda glared at both of them. She wanted to say something, but she knew the King would just reprimand her. She sighed.

"Well? Go to your stupid meeting already!" She turned sharply away and starting walking off. She just saw her future, didn't she? She was going to turn into a pathetic, unhappy, withered up little person and Daphnes would turn into an old fat loser.

Oh Goddesses! Panic welled up inside her, but she fought it down. She was going to handle this issue calmly. She would have to busy herself with something that interested her. Yes, that was a good idea.

She felt like doing something active. She was still mad at the King, and needed to do something to vent out her frustration. She stopped. All her ladies in waiting and guards and Nanny were not here. They all thought she was at the meeting. She smiled to herself, feeling rebellious.

She left the castle, not caring that she was getting her shoes and the helm of her dress dirty. She knew where she was going, but she never went by foot . . .or alone before. It felt good, and she really didn't know why.

She found herself at the stables. Heads turned to her in shock as they watch her make her way by.

* * *

"Will, you are the laziest guy here! It's a miracle that you haven't been fired yet!" 

Will moved his hat from over his eyes. "You say something, man?"

The other stable boy waved his arms in the air. He was holding a dirty pitchfork so some manure flew into air. "I spend half a day cleaning stalls, and every time I look up, you're sitting on the hay bale!"

"Dude, I did do my stalls . . .I just did it so amazing fast, you didn't notice."

The other stable boy looked into the stalls. "I think you're getting help . . ."

"Ha! Who's helping me? It's not like I could pay some kid to do 'em!"

The other stable boy looked at Will suspiciously.

"Will?" They both jumped at the new voice, and when the other stable boy realized it was the Princess, he went to his knees.

Will didn't do any of that, but just sat there on the hay mound. "Zelda?"

The other stable boy glared at him, but said nothing.

"Will? Could I . . . have my riding lesson?"

"Now?"

"Only if it's not too much trouble."

"Trouble?! I don't even know what trouble is." He got up from the hay, and brushed some of it off his pants before offering her his arm. "May I show Her Majesty to her horse?"

The other stable boy gapped at them as they walked away, and Will gave him a wink. He led her to the stall of a little white mare named Sugar Cube.

"Thank Goodness," Zelda whispered at the sight of the little mare. She took the mare's head in her hands and pressed her cheek up against the smooth white fur. She let her hands stoke the mare's neck underneath the silky mane.

She rested her cheek on the horse's nose for some time until Will cleared his throat. "Um . . . usually . . .when we ride the horse . . .we get on it."

"Oh . . .yes." She laughed nervously and pulled away, to let Will take the horse out. He began to saddle it up for her.

"Any particular reason for your decision on suddenly going on a ride today?" Will asked as he worked.

"No, just that it's a nice day."

"Really? Usually you plan ahead before you take a ride . . .and you're never alone."

"Oh . . . that." She waved it off as unimportant.

Will eyed her for a moment before he tightened the girth of the sidesaddle. He left to get the bridle.

When he came back, Zelda asked, "You're coming with me, right? I don't want to go out alone."

"Of course. Wouldn't want the princess wandering out alone." He left to get another horse.

* * *

They stepped out of the stables together and entered a field that cut into the forest that surrounded them. The field was rather large and filled with green, green grass. It was usually used for grazing animals. The air had a rain scent to it and the ground was wet with a light dew. They walked the horses around in silence. Zelda could feel Will's eyes on her, but she did not look at him. She concentrated on the horse underneath her. The sidesaddle was uncomfortable. She wished she could ride bareback. She wondered how that would feel.

They continued to warm the horses up, and the more she thought about it, the more desirable it became. No one was here, besides Will. She could do what she wanted. She stopped her horse and dismounted.

"Uh . . .Zel?"

She unbuckled the saddle, and let the heavy thing fall to the ground.

"Zelda, what are you doing?"

She looked up at him with her haunting pale blue eyes. "Will? Could you boost me up?"

"Ah . . . sure?" He dismounted as well and walked over to give her a boost.

Zelda swung her leg over the mare's white back. Her skirt rode up her legs. The horse felt warm in between them. Her stockinged legs slipped easily on the silky fur, so she wrapped them tightly around the animal, her fingers digging into mane as well as the rains.

"Will," she said. "I want to go fast."

"Um . . . are you sure that's safe?" He was getting uneasy being the only one with Zelda. If something happened to her, he wouldn't know what to do.

She kicked her heels into the mare's side and let out a yell, like the way she had seen Will do. The horse took off.

Will took a moment to get back on the horse and shot after her. Oh man, he was going to get into so much trouble.

Zelda almost fell off instantly. She was bounced backward, landing on the horse's hindquarters, which moved violently up and down as the horse galloped onward. She pulled herself back to where she was supposed to be with her grip from the horse's mane. She tried to grip with her legs, but the silky stockings were slippery against the horse's hide, causing her to squeeze tighter with her legs, making the horse go faster. Eventually she learned to move with the horse. Excitement and freedom coursed though her with adrenaline. This was what she needed. The pounding of the horses hooves, the wind in her hair, the fear of falling off, the small pain in her legs from the strain of gripping them so hard.

Of course, she didn't know how to stop.

The horse reached the end of the field. She thought maybe it would turn around, or maybe go right or left, but the horse instead crashed into the forest. Zelda kept her head down, burying her face into the horse's white mane. Branches scratched at her dress and her hair. She gave a little squeak when the horse leapt over a fallen tree and almost fell off, but she stubbornly held on.

The exploded from the trees into the barley field that was behind the castle. The sun was out, and it was warmer here.

The horse, now tired, stumbled into a canter. Zelda tried to sit up, which she knew was how you were_ supposed_ to sit on a horse and it slowed down to a trot, and eventually a walk.

Zelda let out a breath. She felt wild. Her dress was torn and leaves were stuck in her knotted hair. In the distance she could see the sea. Her home was across that sea. That home that she hadn't seen in 15 years. She briefly had the thought of taking the horse and riding it right through the sea to her home, but she knew that was impossible. She was stuck here.

Will soon came galloping up. "Zelda! Sweet Farore! Are you ok?!"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said, not taking her eyes off the sea.

"Man, I didn't think Sugar Cube could move that fast!"

Zelda didn't answer.

"Ok, you scared the hell out of me. I think we should start going back before I get arrested or something."

Yes . . .she should go back with Will. But she didn't want to. Why had she come out here? To escape something, and for a second she did. But, like Will, it had caught up to her. She would have to return to the castle and do nothing. She might get reprimanded for leaving by herself, but that would be all the excitement today. She would be sent to her bedchambers and do nothing, she would sit at the dinning table and do nothing, she would sit on her throne and do nothing. She was nothing, like a husk or a shell of a person. Nobody listened to what she had to say. Nobody really asked her what she wanted. All she ever did was dress up nice and look pretty.

She felt weak again. Her legs and hands started to shake. She felt uneasy on the horse so she slipped off of it.

She didn't even really have friends to talk to. Sometimes Daphnes would talk to her, but never _really_ talk to her. The only thing that anyone said to her were polite little things. She wasn't that important. The only job she needed to do was bear an heir, and she couldn't even do that! Not the way Daphnes was going about it, anyway.

She buried her fingers into the mare's mane to steady herself.

"Zelda? Are you ok? You're not hurt, are you?"

Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. She was so very lonely.

"Zelda?"

"I'm not ok," she whimpered.

"What?!" Will panicked, putting his hands on his head and looking her up and down, trying to figure out where she was hurt.

"I don't . . . I don't want to live this way!" She burst into tears.

"Huh?'

"I don't want to be alone!" She flung her arms around Will and sobbed into his chest.

Will panicked. He'd definitely get executed or something if someone saw him, and lose Daphnes as a friend, _and_ Rosie, but he also didn't want to offend Zelda by pushing her away.

"Um . . . Zelda?"

She continued to cry.

"Zelda . . um . . ."

She pulled away, her hands going to her mouth. Her usually perfect hair, hung in front of her tear stained face in clomps. "I'm sorry . . ." she choked. "You're probably getting the wrong impression!" She started to laugh with her tears. "You being married, then some crazy princess throws herself at you!" She began to laugh hysterically.

Will had never seen Zelda this way before. "Zelda . . . is something wrong?"

"Wrong?! Or course not!" She threw her arms up in the air. "Everything's perfect!"

Well, Will was pretty good at women lingo–he had to live with Rosie– and he knew what Zelda _really_ meant was, "Of course something's wrong, you moronic idiot!" Now the next part was trying to figure what was wrong, but you couldn't ask straight out, and you could never,_ never_ look like you don't care. So . . .he tried asking a simple question. "Have you spoken to Daphnes recently?" As he said it, he felt stupid. Of course they've spoken to each other! They're married! But then again, married couples often don't speak with each other . . .like him and Rosie, so it was actually a smart question, he decided.

"Daphnes? He can go to bloody hell with his damn Triforce, for all I care!"

Ouch. This was bad all right. Will didn't even know Zelda could get mad. Daphnes had definitely screwed up. Will figured this would happen. Zelda had finally reached her breaking point.

"Uh . . . what did he do?"

"He does nothing," she said bitterly. "He does nothing at all! He's just . . .there! Doing nothing! Oh, wait now, he's doing something! He's looking for the Triforce! I should get a hobby too. I want to learn how to fly, and turn the clouds into cotton candy!" Will briefly wondered if Zelda was intoxicated. No . . .she was ok before . . .

"I mean what am I?! I feel like some puppy bought for a boy who doesn't want it! I don't know, for some reason I got this_ stupid_ impression, that when I came here, there be some magical prince there to sweep me off my feet and . . .and . . ." Out came a sob. "I thought it would be like a fairy tale! How pathetic is that!?"

Will stared blankly at her.

"It's not like I don't like Daphnes. He's a nice person, but I'm his _wife!_ He should treat me like one. I don't want to be treated like a sister or just the King of Hyla's daughter. I'm not ugly. I'm not strange or unappealing. Why won't he love me!?" She stomped her foot on the ground and shouted to the sky. It didn't even seem like she knew Will was there anymore. She fell to her knees and started sobbing freely.

Daphnes . . .was an idiot. "Oh, Zelda hates me . . .she's appalled to look at me . . ." Where the hell did that crap come from?! Zelda _wanted _to love Daphnes. She couldn't when he was being . . .whatever it was Daphnes was doing.

"Ok . . .ok, ok. Don't cry. This is actually a _good _thing! You don't know it, but it is!"

Zelda laughed. "Will, you're not making sense."

"Daphnes probably has no idea he's being an asshole."

She laughed again. "Of course he doesn't."

"Do you want me to talk to him?'

"No! Please don't do that. Actually . . ." She was silent as she tried to find the words to describe her feelings. "I went a little crazy back there, didn't I?"

Will laughed nervously, not wanting to say, Hell yes!

"I was wondering if you would take advantage of me at my weak state," she said, looking at him sideways.

Will was shocked. He didn't move. He was sure if he even moved he would be dead.

"A small sadistic part of me even wanted you to, but I'm glad you didn't." She turned to face him. "You are such a good person, Will. Daphnes is so lucky to have you as a friend. You have even been a friend to me now . . . I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come out here and scared you. I wish I had a friend like you."

"Zelda, we _are _pals!" He kneeled down next to her. "I won't paint your nails or talk girl talk, but I want to be your friend too."

Zelda looked like she was about to cry again. "Thank you, Will."

"Now, lets get you home before someone gets mad at me."

Will helped the Princess back onto her horse and he mounted his own. As they walked back together, Will was already planning on how to approach Daphnes with this topic. Even though Zelda didn't want him too, he knew this could only get worse.

* * *

Daphnes went into the Temple of Time again. He had sent a message to Orayo to meet him here today. He had to sneak out of the castle. His Dad wanted to discuss taxes with him and his mom thought that the Sheikah were secretly plotting to kill the royal family. Zelda seemed to be avoiding him recently, but he decided not to worry about that now. He wanted to make sure Orayo was at the temple and got his message.

Walking and looking around it didn't appear anyone else was here.

"Your Majesty?"

"Ahhhh!" Daphnes spun around and almost tripped on his own feet but Orayo caught his arm. "You're here!"

"It appears I am," he said with a smile. "I got your message."

"Yes . . .ok. Well, you know that I'm looking for the Triforce, right?"

"How could I forget?"

"I think the Triforce is here!" He said with his arms outstretched.

Orayo said nothing.

Daphnes dropped his arms feeling stupid. "Well the owl did say it's right under my nose and I've been to this place a dozen times, but I've never noticed that the ceiling," He pointed to the ceiling. "It's decorated with Sheikah writing. I think it has something to do with the stories on the stained glass windows. You think you could read it for me?"

Orayo tilted his head up towards the ceiling, then at Daphnes. "Ah . . .not really."

"Why? What's the matter? It _is_ Sheikah writing isn't it?"

"I am very sorry your Majesty but . . ." He waved a hand over his face.

"Oh!" Daphnes put a hand over his mouth. "I'm _so stupid!_" How could he have forgotten Orayo was blind?! Seriously, how was it possible to be that stupid?! "I'm _so_ sorry! I can't believe I forgot!" Orayo didn't seem like a blind person; you could totally forget. He seemed to know everything in the world around him. Daphnes was a little surprised he couldn't read the words even though he was blind.

Orayo put up his hands. "It's ok. I'll think of something." He took a deep breath as if taking in his surroundings. Then before Daphnes could count to two, he made a mad dash to the wall. Daphnes didn't even have time to warn him of the wall before Orayo ran right up it all the way up to the _very_ tall ceiling of the Temple.

Daphnes stared incredulously at the spot where Orayo had been. That should have been impossible to do! The Temple's ceiling had to be like 50 feet! He looked up at Orayo who was wedged in between the ceiling and the wall, testing the ceiling to see how it was built by reaching out to touch it.

After Daphnes blinked a couple of times, he called up to Orayo. "Um . . .I could get some one else to--AHH!" Orayo all of a sudden let go of the wall and fell, landing as what looked like a crumbled heap on the ground. But before Daphnes could comprehend the disaster, Orayo gracefully got up, completely unharmed. "D-did you . . . ?! Did you just jump . ..?!You ran up the wall!"

"Please your Majesty, don't get someone else. I have a pride issue. Let me try again. I know how the ceiling angles now."

"But--"

But Orayo was already running up the wall, much faster than before. Daphnes could hardly see him. He wasn't sure, but he thought Orayo was running on the ceiling as well. Soon Orayo did a flip and landed easily in front of Daphnes. "Strange," he said.

Of course it was strange, people couldn't run on 50-foot walls and ceilings!

"I can't believe I was never aware of that," continued Orayo. "I don't come up here much."

Daphnes was still trying to comprehend how Orayo stunt was done.

"Do you not want to know what it says?"

"Oh right! Yes, yes I do."

"It says, 'Of The Three that come, bind in gold in will and wish. Away from mortal eyes, it shines although the walls are pure. To maze and puzzle, only the rat will rat us out.'" He chuckled. "Clever, isn't it?"

"Great! More talking animals! And besides that, I don't get the rest of it."

"That's assuming that the rat is actually a rat."

Daphnes groaned.

"Rats are usually seen as a negative thing . . .but they are also said to be a symbol of wittiness and good luck."

"What!? That's totally contradicting!"

Orayo just shrugged.

Daphnes moaned and covered his face with his hands.

"Maybe we should think about the other half of the wording first."

Daphnes gave a frustrated sigh. "Well, 'The Three' are most likely the Goddesses, and 'bind in gold in will and wish' must be the Triforce!"

"I'd say the same thing."

"'Away fro mortal eyes' . . .well that's obvious; WE DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS! And pure walls is crap to me!"

"Your Majesty?"

"Pure walls?! Walls that are pure?! What the heck is that?! Walls that don't have crap on them?!"

"Your Majesty, I would like it if you drank some tea with me."

"WHAT!? Drinking tea?!"

Orayo turned his face to Daphnes giving him a do-you-dare-question-me look.

"Sure, of course I'll . . .drink tea with you . . .Now?"

"There is no other better time," and Orayo led the way out of the temple followed by a confused prince.

A shady-looking man walked down the street of Hyrule Market. He pulled his over-sized coat tighter around him, trying to blend into the crowd better. He _was _a thief, after all. What could he say? Life was hard. He was starving, so were many other people from the wrong side of town. But good fortune had been looking out for him. He had learned to train his pet rat in a very peculiar way.

He escaped to an empty alleyway, sitting against the wall and waiting. After about 10 minutes, a rat scurried into his open pocket.

"What have you found for me today?" he said as he gently took the rat out of his pocket. Inside the rat's tiny jaws was a gold ring, holding a some diamond. "Oh, this is a good one!" the thief said happily. The rat was a better pickpocket than he was. It was an unusual rat. It was white, and it was surprising that the thing hadn't been caught with such a bright color. Its nose was so red, you'd think it was bleeding if you didn't look closer. It also had two different colored eyes, one green and one blue. The eyes were as bright as the nose.

He fed the rat a bit of cheese left from breakfast. "Good work," He kissed it. "Now--" He stopped as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing . . .was that the Prince walking by?

Daphnes and Orayo walked though the streets of Hyrule Market, apparently looking for a tea shop. The crowed parted to let them pass, all eyes glued to the Prince and his unusual bodyguard. Daphnes was feeling uncomfortable.

"Um . . .Orayo?"

"Do not worry Your Majesty. No harm shall come to you as long as I'm here."

"It's not that . . it's . . .well I like tea as much as the next person but--"

Orayo suddenly stopped. "Here we are."

Daphnes turned his head wildly before he spotted the small tea shop in front of him. "Oh . . ."

They went inside and sat at one of the tables. Orayo ordered for the both of them as Daphnes sat there with his head in his hands. "How am I going to figure this out? I'm kind of afraid to find out, too. What if I can't do it?! Or what if I do, and I somehow screw up and destroy THE WHOLE UNIVERSE?!?! AND WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW?!?!?! DRINKING TEA!!"

"Your Majesty," Orayo's voice was soft. "I believe you're doing what people today call 'freaking out'. I hear it's not healthy."

"I can't help it. It's who I am."

"Drink the tea," was all Orayo said as a nervous serving girl set the cups of steaming tea down. Daphnes took a quick sip and set the tea cup down. "Now take a deep breath," Orayo took a long sip, made a face, then added something to his tea before saying, "Now, start telling me everything that's on your mind."

"Everything?"

Orayo nodded as he drank deeply.

Oh boy.

He tried to think of where to start. "Well, one day I'm going to be King, and all these people are expecting me to be this great leader or something. When I was a kid, I thought that was cool and I was sure I could do it, but now I realize I can't. I can't do anything. I'm pathetic. I get nervous and paranoid and I can't focus and I start over-thinking _everything_ and I keep thinking something's wrong, but nothing's wrong! Everything's perfectly fine, but I just assume something's wrong, and just that assuming, makes everything go wrong, and Zelda--"

"Your Majesty, you need to relax more. There's no need for you to rush. Your parents are still alive and well, and there is no reason for you to be so sure that you can't do it. You are young. You haven't been tried yet. You could do anything."

"But . . . I'm a coward," Daphnes said, staring at the table.

"Everyone is a coward," Orayo said.

Daphnes looked at Orayo. Orayo didn't seem like someone who could be afraid of anything. "Sure."

"I was scared when I lost my eyes. I thought I was going to die. I cried like a baby."

Daphnes smiled. "Yeah, I guess . . .but I'm afraid of something that nobody seems to understand, _especially _my father."

Orayo cocked his head, listening, expecting Daphnes to continue. Daphnes blushed and bit his lip, glancing at Orayo nervously. He _really _didn't want to be having this conversation. Maybe if he was silent for long enough, Orayo would give up.

"Your Majesty?" Orayo raised his eyebrows quizzically.

So much for that plan. Maybe he could be vague enough about it that Orayo would never guess. "Uh . . . well, you see . . . Have you ever had just one thing to do, one thing that was expected of you, and you just couldn't do it? I mean, you know you have to, and it's not that you don't _want_ to, you just . . . can't." Orayo's expression was blank, but Daphnes didn't know if he didn't understand or just didn't want to start laughing hysterically at his patheticness. He decided to opt for creative imagery. "It's like the . . . ahem, _destination _. . . is guarded by dragons and, uh, fire. And I can't get there. You know?"

"Your Majesty," Orayo began slowly, "Are you telling me that you are still a virgin?"

"What? What are you talking about? That's ridiculous! That's just plain sad. That's . . ." He slumped. "True." He sighed, dropping his face into his hands. "And I thought I was being creative."

"Well, then." Orayo fell silent. Daphnes felt his face turn even redder than it had been previously.

"It's horrible, isn't it? I should just be exiled or something. Sent to a monastery and eat slugs, right?"

"No, it's not horrible. It's just . . . ah . . . _unusual."_

Daphnes clunked his head onto the table. Orayo sighed, trying to choose his words carefully, when he suddenly tensed up. Daphnes looked up. "Is something wrong?" As soon as he said that he thought, _duh, _I'm _wrong_, but he had the feeling it was something else.

"There's a . . . rat, right next to you."

Daphnes gave a pathetic squeak and shot up. "Where?!"

Faster then Daphnes could see, Orayo was already up and had caught the thing, holding the white rodent by the tail. It went limp, playing dead, hoping Orayo would drop it. As Orayo held it up, Daphnes found he wasn't afraid of it as much as he thought he would. Maybe because it was very pretty, well for a rat anyway. It was too white, too clean for a rat. With its blood red nose and bright eyes, it almost didn't look real. Looking at the rat's eyes, he saw that the eyes were two different colors. Green and blue. The green and blue eyes, and the red nose were startling against the white . . . green, red, blue . . .like in a shape of a triangle . . .

"Your Majesty?"

"Ah . . yeah?!"

"I think it has something in its mouth." Sure enough, there was a glint gold in its mouth. Orayo carefully pried it out and held it in front of Daphnes.

"My wedding ring!" He snatched it back and glared at the rat. "How'd you get that, you . . . you rodent!"

Daphnes jumped back as Orayo suddenly dropped the rat. Orayo looked very surprised that he had.

"There's something not right about that thing."

"Surprised that you dropped it?" Daphnes said, somewhat smugly.

"It was like its tail went through my fingers."

"How can you tell? You're blind."

"Fine."

"Hey! My wedding ring is gone again!"

"Surprised that you dropped it?" Orayo said with a wide grin.

"No, it's not on the ground." The both heard a squeak that almost sounded like laughter. On the table was the rat with the gold ring in its mouth. "How d--wha . . .give that back!" He lunged at the rat, but was not fast enough. "Dammit!" The rat disappeared outside into the crowd.

"I've got it, your Majesty!"

"But–"

But Orayo was already gone. Daphnes ran after him, knocking over a chair as he hurried out of the tea shop.

Outside, he scanned the crowd looking for Orayo. He was already on the other side of the square. How Orayo moved that fast, Daphnes would never know. He tried to keep up with him, but soon lost him. And so he wandered around the market, lost, until a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into an empty alleyway. Orayo's other arm had a dirty looking guy in a headlock.

Daphnes . . . was confused, until he saw the rat's tiny white head disappear into the man's coat pocket.

"Were you just trying to steal from His Majesty?" Orayo said in a dangerously quiet voice. The man cowered in fear. Orayo now somehow had possession of Daphnes' ring and he flipped it in the air, sending it to Daphnes. Daphnes caught it, and was quite please at the accomplishment. Orayo threw the man at Daphnes' feet. "What do you want to do with him?"

Daphnes stood tall before the man, his hands on his hips, a most serious expression on his face. "I have but one question for you," he said. "Does your rat talk?"

"What?"

"Answer the question!"

"No?"

"No? No as in no, you won't answer the question or no the rat doesn't talk?!"

"Um . . .your Majesty?" Orayo gave him a puzzled look.

"The rat doesn't talk!"

"What?! Are you sure?!"

"Your Majesty . . ."

"The thing said 'only the rat will rat us out.' Rat us out; tell our secret. In order to do that, its got to talk!" He grabbed the rat from the man's pocket. "I know your secret, rat! You can't hide from me! Well . . .say something, you pathetic scheming infestation!" He began shaking the poor creature and continued to scream at it, the rat letting out squeaks as he did so.

Orayo and the man blankly stared at him.

Daphnes ran out of energy and stopped. "See?" He said, breathing hard. "Any second now . . .it's going to start to talk."

The rat sunk its teeth into Daphnes finger. He let out a cry of pain and the rat hit the floor. Daphnes nursed his finger. "Stupid rat . . .Wha . . .What the Hell?!" He looked at his finger and saw that his ring was once again missing. "How does it do that!?" He began to run after the rat, calling it various things as he did so.

Orayo looked down at the man, who was still on the floor. "Well . . .good day . . ." He bowed, then went after his prince.


	9. Chapter 9 The Goddesses' Challenge

An: (GASP) OH MY GOSH!!!!! I'M SUBMITTING A CHAPTER!!!!! I know. I'm brillant. I'm actually quite happy with this one. Orayo and Daphnes make such a cute pair . . .not anything gross like that. (throws shoe at all the perverts) Anyway . . .I don't know.

Chapter 9

Goddesses's Challenges

"Your Majesty?" Orayo asked as he caught up to the Prince and was now running beside him easily. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

Daphnes did not answer, keeping his eyes on the rat ahead of him, barely keeping up with it, but never losing it, knocking a few people who didn't have time to get out of the way.

The rat led them back to the Temple of Time, stopping at the top of the steps, sitting up on its hunches. With the ring still in its mouth, it made a pathetic squeaking sound.

Daphnes was out of breath. He stood before it, with his hands on his knees, trying to talk. He lifted an arm and pointed at the rat. "Y . . .you . . . get . . . over here." With that, the rat scrambled away, into the temple.

Daphnes and Orayo followed it into the temple. Once inside, the rat was nowhere to be seen. "No . . . No! NO!" Daphnes started to run around the room in a panic. "It was just here! It went in here! We saw it!"

Orayo was going to add that only Daphnes saw it, since he couldn't see anything, but he thought the better choice was to remain quiet. As Daphnes was running, he stepped on something and his foot slid from underneath him. Orayo caught him and righted him with inhuman speed. They turned their heads to the small sound of metal on stone, and Daphnes saw the glint of gold, as the ring--which was what he had stepped on--bounced away. Daphnes pounced on it. "Thank the Goddesses!" He kissed the ring, then slipped it back on his finger.

"Did you hear that?" asked Orayo.

"What?"

Orayo stomped on one of the stone blocks that made up the floor, then another one. The second thump sounded hollow, while the first did not. Daphnes watched Orayo curiously as he squatted down to the stone. He ran his fingers over the edge, and with some difficulty wiggled his fingers underneath it and lifted the stone, revealing a dark hole.

Daphnes gasped. It was a clue, a _clue,_ an actual thing that was telling him to go a certain direction; into the hole! Yes! He silently prayed to the Goddesses.

"After you?" asked Orayo still holding up the stone. Daphnes looked down the black hole and suddenly felt uneasy.

"I don't have a torch," he said.

"A what?"

"A torch. I can't see anything down there."

"Oh, how nightmarish," Orayo said with a wry smile. "I'll go first." He gracefully lowered himself down.

"Wait. We don't know how deep it is!" but Orayo was already gone. " . . .Are you alive?!" Daphnes asked after a while.

"I don't know. I can't see anything!"

Daphnes rolled his eyes. That's what he needed, more sarcasm. "I'm coming down!" he called as he lowered himself--not very gracefully, he noticed--into the hole. The drop was more than he anticipated and, upon landing, fell over backwards. A pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and he yelped.

"It's only me," said Orayo's low and quiet voice.

Daphnes laughed nervously.

Then the light that shone above them died as the stone somehow fell back in place, trapping them in.

"Sweet Nayru!" Daphnes cried, jumping up and flinging his arms around Orayo. "We're trapped! Oh good Goddesses, we're dead, and we're trapped!"

"Your Majesty?" Orayo asked, completely calm.

"No, this horrible! This is worse than horrible! It's too dark! I can't see anything! There could be anything down here! We're going to die!"

Orayo sighed. "Hylians and their need for light," Orayo muttered.

Daphnes squeaked as a rat ran over his foot, tightening his grip around Orayo.

"Your Majesty . . . you're making it hard for me to breathe . . ."

"Yes, I'm sorry." Daphnes reluctantly let go, but held on tightly to his arm instead.

Orayo put his hand on the wall, and slowly started to move forward. The wall felt moist and rough and natural. The ground on the other hand was smooth, as if man made, making it easy to walk, though Daphnes still stumbled as he followed Orayo.

Orayo stopped. "What is it?" Daphnes whispered.

"The path splits into three."

"Great," Daphnes muttered. "And there's only two of us." Though Daphnes wouldn't have split up with Orayo if the castle was burning down.

"Eeny-meeny-miney-mo?"

"No," Daphnes said. "We have to think about this logically." He thought about it for a while then said, "Well, it can't be straight, because that's too obvious. If the Goddesses wanted to hide their Triforce, they wouldn't be obvious. So that leaves it down to right or left. It can't be right because one would assume it was right since 'right is right' and most people are right-handed so they rely on right, but it's the left that's special because it's so rare for someone to be left-handed . . ."

"I'm trying to figure out if you're really smart, or if you just over-think everything."

Daphnes ignored him. "So we should go left!" He ran into a wall. "Ow! Orayo . . ." he said, feeling the wall, trying to find the opening. " . . .We may . . . have lost . . . the way . . . Oh no, wait! Here it is."

"Thank goodness," Orayo said.

They went though the corridor until they came to another three separate passages. Daphnes concluded since they went left last time, they should go right. Then when the decision had to be made again, they went straight. Then again, they went right again because Daphnes didn't want to form a pattern, and so on and so forth.

Orayo confidently followed his Prince through the maze . . . well not confidently. He was pretty sure that the prince had no idea what he was doing, but he was bored back home, and this little adventure was slightly amusing.

As time went on, he began to wonder if he'd die down here with the Prince. The fate seemed so bizarre to him that he almost laughed to himself.

Daphnes decided he was going to crack first though.

"We're lost, we're trapped and we're dead!"

"Your Majesty, the best thing to do is just not panic."

"No! We're dead, and I feel like panicking so I'm gonna panic! I don't know what I was thinking! I can't do this! I'm going to fail and die a horrible death! And I dragged you into it so you can die a horrible death with me! The Goddesses don't really think I can do this! They're goddesses, they _know_ I won't be able to find it, so they sent me on this dumb quest so they can laugh at me while I slowly die! Which–" He was cut off as the ground from underneath him collapsed. He fell down about five feet. He sat there on the ground, bewildered, not saying anything.

"Your Majesty?"

Well . . . that was new. He thought he saw something in front of him. How he didn't know for it was still pitch-black, but it looked white. Then he heard a series of squeaking sounds.

It was the rat . . . and it sounded like it was laughing at him.

He was right. The Goddesses were laughing at him.

He slowly picked himself up.

"Your Majesty?" Orayo asked again, but less worried now that he could hear him moving. He jumped down to the Prince.

"We follow the rat," Daphnes said simply.

"What rat? There's nothing there," Orayo said and as Daphnes looked, the rat was already gone. Daphnes didn't care, he just kept walking in the direction he thought it might have gone.

The air was much colder down here. Daphnes thought they could hear the wind, though it should have been impossible.

Wait . . . it sounded like voices more than wind.

_It's the prince . . ._

_. . .Daphnes, the prince._

_The prince, the prince._

Daphnes tried to ignore them. It was all in his head.

_He's afraid . . . the prince is weak . . . he doesn't know what he's doing . . ._

_He's more blind than the Sheikah . . ._

_Daphnes the Prince . . ._

Ignore, ignore, ignore . . .

_He has left his gold at home . . ._

_His precious gold . . . delicate, weak, precious gold . . ._

_Why does he search for more . . . ?_

_His gold . . . his gold yearns for him . . . but he is not there for her . . ._

IGNORE!

_He searches for us. . . ._

_For us . . ._

_He'll break us . . ._

_We are already broken . . ._

_Fix us . . . fix us . . . _fix _us . . . . FIX US!!!_

"What?"

_FIX US!! FIX US!!_ The voices screamed and screamed, bouncing off the walls.

"I didn't say anything," Orayo said.

"Don't you hear that sound?" asked Daphnes.

Orayo shook his head. "You're Majesty, I don't sense any presence near us whatsoever."

"Great, so I'm crazy!"

"No . . . it's not just that. I haven't been feeling right down here. I can't feel my presence like I use to. I'm usually quite good at finding my way though tunnels." He laughed. "I feel old."

Daphnes laid a hand on Orayo's shoulder. "You can't be that old–" He was cut off as the floor below them was no longer there. Daphnes screamed his head off as they fell downward, even Orayo let out a gasp of surprise.

They plummeted downward, turning and spinning till they were sick, and as suddenly as it has started, it stopped. Daphnes stopped screaming and removed his hands from his head, opening his eyes. He was standing on solid ground, facing red stone walls . . . or was that the color from the reflection of the torches . . .

Torches!

"Light!" screamed Daphnes.

"Really . . . that's good . . ." Orayo muttered, looking pale and holding his head. "Let's not do that again." He stopped and tensed. "There's something else in here."

Daphnes turned around, and his eyes went wide. He opened his mouth as if to scream, but no words came out.

Orayo took his silence as an answer that whatever it was, was right there. "How big is it?"

The creature took a few steps forward, making the whole room shake with the boom.

Daphnes still couldn't speak. "I'm guessing pretty big, if it's that heavy, but could I get more details?"

The creature let out a roar, the force of it blowing Daphnes and Orayo's hair with its massive lungs.

"Aw . . . crap." Orayo pulled Daphnes away as something struck at them with amazing speed, then retracted just as quickly. "You're Majesty, what does it look like?!" Orayo asked impatiently as they started to move around the room.

"Um . . . well . . . ah . . . it's got . . . teeth . . . "

"Teeth, and?"

"Horns."

"Kay . . . "

"And . . . what looks like a giant spiky shell thing . . ."

"What's the thing that it keeps shooting us with?"

"It's tongue? I don't know!"

The next time the creature shot its poisonous tongue at them, Orayo ripped out a knife and gave it a quick slice, cutting it off. The creature roared in pain.

"Uh-oh," Orayo grabbed Daphnes and slung him over his shoulder. Then jumped up into the air, right before the monster slammed his mouth (which was actually more like a beak of a turtle) into the stone they stood.

Orayo landed on the horny back of the beast. "OH MY GODDESSES! WE'RE ON IT! WE'RE ON ITS BACK!" Daphnes screamed upside down, draped over Orayo's back, the blood rushing into his head. Orayo ignored him, concentrating on staying on the creature's back as it moved around in circles trying to find them.

The monster suddenly stopped in frustration and threw back its head; a huge tongue of fire flew up into the air. "Good thing we missed that one," Orayo said pleasantly as he rested on one of the creature's spikes, still holding Daphnes. As the monster swung around the room, Daphnes briefly thought he saw a thin tall rock on the other side of the room, but he was still upside down.

"Orayo . . ."

"Oh yeah," He flipped the Prince over. "This isn't so bad, is it?"

"What's that?" Daphnes tried to point at the stone but the beast swung to fast. On habit Orayo turned his head to see what Daphnes was pointing to, before remembering he couldn't see. "I don't know."

"Never mind. It looks like . . . a statue."

"Do you need me to bring you closer to it?"

"Ah . . . can you do that?"

"If you wish it."

"Sur–" Orayo grabbed Daphnes and put him in a cradle position before leaping to the ground, which was about 20 feet. They hit the ground with a roll and Daphnes got up dizzily, almost running into the statue. He turned around when he heard the beast behind him. He screamed when he realized that it would breathe fire on him, but before it did, it screamed as well and turned away at Orayo who had thrown a dagger at its fleshy throat.

"I'll distract it!" Daphnes barely heard before Orayo disappeared around its legs. Daphnes turned back to the stature. It was of a woman, her legs spread apart and her arms crossed as she looked down at him almost menacingly. She was made of stone except for her ruby eyes.

"The Goddess Din . . ." he whispered. What was he supposed to do? Bow to it? Ask it for advice? "Um . . . Great Goddess Din!" He jumped back when he swore he thought he saw its eyes narrow at him. Din was the Goddess of Power. He needed to do something powerful . . .

Next to the stature looked like a big platform . . . or was it . . . a switch?

Power . . . strength . . . he needed to use his strength to push down the switch! That was it! He could do that.

He took a deep breath to ready himself, then with a cry he used all his strength to pound on the switch.

" . . .Ow."

He just needed to try harder. He pushed on it, his feet scrambling on the stone floor as he tried to put more force into it.

"Your Majesty?" Orayo called from the other side of the room. "Have you figured it out yet?" The monster came after Orayo, each foot coming down with amazing strength.

"Orayo! Bring it over here!"

Orayo made his way to the Prince, flipping and twisting to avoid teeth and flame. He shot past Daphnes, grabbing his arm, leaping onto the switch.

"If we get the monster on the switch, maybe a door or something will appear!" Daphnes said, as the met the wall and the monster lumbered after them. It crawled onto the switch, and with a loud clicking sound, the switch was pressed. There was a rumble as the right and left walls started to rise. "Yes! Yes!"

And in came more monsters.

"Did it work?" asked Orayo sarcastically as he heard the earth shake.

"I don't . . . understand." Daphnes thought before they realized that the monster was still right in front of them and taking a breath to breathe more fire on them. Orayo grabbed Daphnes and they ran under it but as soon as they came out the other side, there was another one trying to trample on them and then there was another and another.

"Wait, over there!" Daphnes shouted. The walls had opened to a larger room . . . and there was a door. They sprinted over to the door. "Oh thank the Goddesses!" Daphnes practically sobbed. He grabbed onto the doorknob and yanked on it.

It didn't open. He twisted it, beating on the door with his foot and swearing furiously.

"It's locked." Orayo said.

"I KNOW IT'S LOCKED! THAT'S WHY I CAN'T OPEN IT!" he screamed at Orayo. Orayo's face was impassive.

Daphnes turned to the monsters. "There's only one thing that we can do. We have to destroy them. That's the only way the door will open." He drew his sword.

Orayo raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing, waiting for Daphnes to make the first move.

Daphnes stood there, sword drawn. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing!" he cried, and threw his sword to the ground.

Orayo picked it up. "This is a very light sword."

"I know, ok?! I'm sorry!"

Orayo balanced it on his finger before tossing it in the air, catching it and throwing it like a spear.

It hit one of the monsters in the neck, it reared in up in pain, falling backwards into another one, its horny shell piercings its side. This one let out a flame with its last breath, hitting another one. That one caught on fire. Eventually they were all down.

"Did I get one?" Daphnes couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic are not.

"How . . ."

The door behind them clicked as it unlocked.

Orayo walked over to the fallen monsters.

"What are you doing?!" Daphnes cried after him.

"Retrieving your sword," he said, taking it and walking back, handing it back to Daphnes. Daphnes took it looking at the blood that dripping from it before they went into the next room.

Daphnes gasped as water seeped into his shoes. He groaned as the door closed behind them locking itself once again. This room had blue walls, and water seeped down them to meet what was on the floor.

"You could wash the sword if you want, now." Orayo said with a smile. Daphnes dipped the sword into the ankle-deep water before sheathing it. He hated getting wet. He hated water, period.

"Any ideas how to complete this room?" asked Orayo calmly.

"N–" The ground fell under them once again as they fell with a shower of water. Daphnes crashed into deep water, sinking into its depth. Panic swept through him like the waves of the water. He never learned how to swim. He was too afraid to go near water again since he was little. Memories flashed in his mind. Zelda, only 10, screaming in horror as he fell. Will jumping in after him.

Will . . .

Will would save him. He would find him through the water. He just had to hold his breath a little longer.

His body went limp as he brushed the stone at the bottom of the water, and the water slowly drained away. He gasped as air filled his lungs.

Where was Orayo?! He looked around but he wasn't there. The only thing besides the four blue walls with running water was another statue. This one had her hands pressed together as if she were praying, her hands up to her lips. Her sapphire eyes stared up into the sky and the water running down her face made it look like she was crying. Daphnes stared at the statue, trying to catch his breath. A tiny blue light suddenly appeared and for a second Daphnes thought it was a fairy. That was silly; fairies didn't exist. Then the blue light started to bounce up and down leaving a trail that turned out to be words. Daphnes read them out loud to himself. The words disappeared as he read them.

"'_To have come this far, thou must have great power,_

_but to make sure thou's heart is not sour,_

_thou must answer a number of riddles,_

_if he be big or if he be little._

_Answer each one correctly, don't lie,_

_for if you are wrong the water will rise,_

_and thou will die . . .'_ What? You're going to fast, so down."

_Number 1:_

"Where is Orayo?"

_Toward the answer you must go,_

_There's much you need to know,_

_Hiding secrets, revealing truth,_

_Not the solution nor the proof,_

_Merely a way to get here or there,_

_It may or may not lead to somewhere._

_It is a small thing, used for hiding,_

_Not actually the answer but just does the guiding,_

_Taunting a many a brave man's dreams,_

_It might not always be what it seems._

Daphnes blurted out the first words that came to mind. "I don't know!"

_That is wrong. _The water rose until it was knee-high and Daphnes shot up from the floor.

"I mean . . ."

_Is that your answer?_

"No! Um . . . Could you repeat the riddle?"

_That is also wrong._ The water rose to his waist. He was about to shout, but stopped himself. Anything he said would be taken as an answer.

"It hides things . . . uh, a box?"

_Wrong. _The water rose to his chest.

"All right . . . not what it seems . . . huh. That's not my answer!"

_Are you sure? _It seemed to be enjoying itself.

"Yes! Uh . . ." He tried to remember what the riddle was. It held secrets . . . books could hold secrets, but so could people. And it could take you places . . . he was about to rule out books when he remembered that books could take you to places if you read about far off lands or something. People could also take you places, but it didn't seem to fit as well as a book. And it was supposed to be a small thing . . . "A book?"

_That is wrong._

"What?! Then I mean–!" The water rose to his mouth and he had to tilt his head back to breathe, waving his hands wildly in the water to keep balance.If it wasn't a book, what was it?! Keep secrets, keep secrets, keep secrets . . . hides things . . . he thought of the Triforce. It was behind the walls, somewhere in here. To go through walls he needed doors . . . but doors weren't small and the last one he found was locked . . . "A key!" he screamed.

There was the sound of grinding stone and the water crashed around him before draining into the opening the wall had made. He stumbled at little with the water gone and went through the opening in the wall, hoping to find another door, but there was just the glow of the little blue light.

"Oh come on! Another one?!"

_Number 2:_

_Dark as night, black as coal, _

_Strange as the depths of one's own soul. _

_Less than a man, silent as the grave,_

_Nothing to fear as long as you're brave._

_Not reflecting things lost or things yet to come,_

_By night it goes back to where it came from. _

_Out there it shows nothing but who you are,_

_But here it shows the way, the next door is not far._

_Know what to do and stand on your own,_

_And you'll see that it never leaves you alone._

Daphnes learned from his last experience to stop complaining and stay quiet. Something black . . . silent . . . that's always with you . . . Oh, he knew this one.

"Shadow."

The blue light flared a bit, as if it was surprised at Daphnes' answer and then the walls separated to let him pass.

"Yes! In your face!" he shouted, pointing at the little blue light. The light flared again and all the light in the room went out for a second, making it pitch black before returning to normal. Daphnes let out a shout before saying, "Sorry! I'm sorry! Not in your face. You don't even have a face." He dashed into the next room.

_Number three:_

_Never before seen, but always it's known,_

_Not the same to everyone; to each it's his own._

_Fire or flood, love or hate,_

_The horror of it can seem very great._

_Lurking in darkness, waiting for you,_

_Each time it strikes you feel it anew._

_Wise people fear it as the foolish feel it,_

_And nobody knows how to make it quit._

_It haunts everyone, everywhere, evermore,_

_But be strong and step up to the door._

_Ignore its cold fingers that draw you away,_

_Realize its weak power will no longer stay. _

Fear . . . fear . . . What did he fear? _Water, for one thing,_ he thought as he watched the water flow down the walls. He was afraid of pain. He didn't like pain. Nobody liked pain. Was that the answer? He tried to go through the poem again in his head to see if it would fit. "Pain?"

_That is wrong_.

The water rose again, but Daphnes didn't panic. If he panicked, he'd just make it go faster. What was _he_ afraid of? He thought of Zelda. He wasn't actually afraid of her specifically, but rejection.

"Rejection?"

_That is wrong._

The water rose again.

At this rate, he was going to fail. He didn't want to fail.

"Failure?"

_That is wrong._ The water rose once again.

Dammit. He kept his mouth shut for a very long time. The water was already at his waist. He didn't want it to get any higher. He'd have to think really hard. Well, he guessed pain would be wrong, because he supposed that there were brave men who didn't care about pain. There were also people out there who didn't care what others thought about them. So he guessed . . . Maybe rejection was wrong. And there were lazy people out there who didn't do anything that they could fail at. Well, for one thing, everyone was afraid of something. It was just different for everyone. That was frustrating.

He stood there for a long time till his skin start to get waterlogged. After awhile, the blue light moved again.

_If you cannot answer the rhyme,_

_Then you will lose your time._

The water all of a sudden started to rise again, but slowly.

"W-what?! Come on! That wasn't part of the deal!"

_That is wrong._

The water rose to his shoulders, before slowing down to its steady belated speed. Daphnes felt like screaming, but, fearing that the blue light would take _that_ as an answer, dunked his head under water and screamed there. He pulled his head from the water and glared smugly at the blue light.

_Ha. What now?_ He pointed silently at the blue light, as if taking it on.

But yet . . . no answer came to him and he stood there silently with his arms now underwater, approaching his death.

Ok, now, he really had to think. Think, Think, Think, Think, Think, Think, Think! Come on, fear! What does everyone fear?! Fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear! He splashed his arms in the water in frustration. "Fear, fear, fear, Dammit!" Then he covered his mouth. Did he just say that out loud?

_That is correct._

"What the hell?!"

The doors opened and the water drained out and Daphnes started, dumbfounded at what was now a green glow coming from the new hole.

How was Dammit the answer? No wait! Fear! Fear was the answer! Nobody liked being afraid. Fear made you weak and do stupid things. Yes, it was perfect. Ha, ha, ha . . . Yes! He ran into the next room without thinking that much, and almost did a dance on the soft green moss that adorned the floor.

This room was very big and didn't have much light. It was too dark to see the end of it.

This statue had her hands over her heart. Her emerald eyes gazed down at the ground. Her face looked somewhat fearful, and her stance was as if she was somewhat shocked. Daphnes looked down at what the statue was staring at. It was a black heap of something.

He edged closer to it. He didn't like the idea of how dark it was. As he got closer to the heap and realized what it was.

"Orayo!"

He crashed to his knees and rolled Orayo over so that he was on his back. Orayo was limp and lifeless. "Oh please don't be dead!" He placed his ear over Orayo's chest. He was still breathing. "Ok . . . please wake up." He waved his hand over Orayo's face as if that would somehow magically make him conscious. Of course that did nothing, so he shook Orayo's shoulders instead. He had similar results.

He looked around at the dark. What was he supposed to do here? How did Orayo get here, and what had happened to him? If he had a similar experience that Daphnes had, then . . . But no. He wasn't wet. He couldn't see any injuries either, which was a good thing.

One thing Daphnes knew for sure was that they couldn't stay here. Whatever they had to do to get past this stage, had to be to first explore the area. He didn't feel comfortable leaving Orayo here. Especially since it was so dark and leaving just a few feet would mean he wouldn't be able to see Orayo anymore. Anything could happen to him, hidden in the dark.

So that just meant one thing.

He, Daphnes, would have to carry Orayo.

How hard could that be?

He took a deep breath thought on how to just that. Orayo was a _taller_ then he was. Thankfully, Orayo was skinny, but . . . so was Daphnes. Unfortunately for Daphnes, though Orayo seemed to have absolutely zero body fat, he was all lean muscle. Muscle, lean or not, was heavier then fat and Daphnes lacked all of those things.

Daphnes grabbed onto Orayo's shoulders and heaved him up into a sitting position, moving himself behind Orayo's back so he couldn't fall back down. After catching his breath, he tried to think of what to do next. He pulled Orayo's arms over his own shoulders, hunching over so that most of Orayo's weight went to Daphnes' back.

This could work . . .

He took a step forward, and then another step. Orayo's feet dragged behind Daphnes, making him go even slower.

It was dark, and the moss underneath him was slippery. He almost slipped once, but caught himself, biting his tongue. He looked closer into the darkness and could see trees, walls of trees. They so close together that not even Daphnes could squeeze through them.

It wasn't long before Daphnes realized what this was.

It was another maze.

"You know what, Goddesses?!" He cried into the darkness. "You're starting to repeat yourself! I thought you guys were better than that!" He laughed, almost a little insanely. He picked the direction randomly, though he gave himself excuses on making each decision, telling himself he was being logical. He briefly wondered what this room was about. The first one was power, the second was wisdom, wouldn't that make this one courage? This wasn't all that scary. Especially after what he had just been through

As he dragged Orayo along, Daphnes started to hear what sounded like a lazy lope of an animal. It was accompanied by wheezy pants and a yelp or two.

This worried Daphnes.

He thought he could see some light just up ahead. He was almost there.

He tried to go faster, but all that accomplished was him stumbling. The animals were getting closer. One passed him and turned around to face Daphnes.

It was a wolf.

Daphnes stopped in his tracks and stared at the animal in horror. He could hear more behind him. The wolf lounged at him, and Daphnes knees buckled out of fear. The wolf sailed over him.

Once the wolf was out of his eyesight, Daphnes grabbed Orayo and dragged him as fast as he could to the light.

He found himself in a grotto with a perfect circle of light in the middle of it. Daphnes ran to it, two wolves on either side of him, about to cut him off.

As Daphnes collapsed into the light, the wolves yelped in pain, and shied away from the light.

They were safe.

Daphnes gave a sigh of relief as he sat there, but he didn't realize at first that Orayo's limp body was slowly being pulled back into the darkness. One of Orayo's legs didn't completely make it to the light, and now one of the wolves had a hold of it.

"No wait!" Daphnes made a grab for Orayo, but as soon as his finger's left the darkness, they were nearly bitten off. He jerked his hand back. "ORAYO!!" He could hear the wolf drag Orayo away. He looked around his circle of light. He could barely make out the outlines of wolves guarding the circumference of the circle.

Daphnes was safe, as long as he stayed in the light, but who knew what had happened to Orayo? He couldn't save him. A tear fell down his cheek. He was a worthless coward.

The wolves' attention turned into the direction that Orayo was taken away to. They bounded in that direction, probably wanting a part of the meal that they had obtained.

Daphnes was safe . . . but . . .

No. He wasn't going to abandon Orayo. So what if he died and didn't get the stupid Triforce? It was the Goddesses fault. If they really wanted him to get it, maybe they should have been a little more nicer. Well sucks for them.

With a scream, he ran into the darkness, pulling out his sword as he did so. He heard the wolves go after him instantly. They nipped at his heels and ripped at his clothes. One of them tackled him and fell to the ground, but he managed to get away from it. He was bleeding and in pain, but he kept running. Orayo had to just be a little further. "ORAYO!!" He could see the outline of wolves grouped around something. They turned to meet him. He screamed again as the wolves leapt up at him and he lunged with his sword.

Daphnes waited for pain. He knew he would be ripped into shreds. He would fail in saving Orayo, but at least Daphnes wouldn't be a coward.

But Daphnes didn't feel any pain. It was pitch black and at first. Daphnes didn't realize that was because he had his eyes closed. He also became aware that he was no longer standing. Well, that wasn't a surprise. He knew he would fall, but he didn't actually remember it happening. Maybe he was dead.

He opened his eyes. It was light, though there were no torches or windows. The floor and the walls were made of the same stone as the Temple of Time. For a moment he thought he was back at the temple, but saw that he wasn't, for there was nothing here but an entryway to another room.

As awareness came back to him, he gasped and felt like the air was knocked out of him.

ORAYO!

He pushed himself up and realized that Orayo was underneath him. He must have passed some test and him and Orayo were teleported here. Daphnes probably had fallen on him since the wolves were no longer in-between them. Wolves! Right! Was Orayo all right?!

Daphnes scrambled off of Orayo, afraid that he was hurting him more. Orayo groaned in pain. He was alive! Yay!

"Orayo?"

"_Sa Nayru . . . Solona . . . kihah_."

"Thank the Goddesses, you're alive! Do you know what almost happened?! Do you know what I've been through?! I will never go near water again! I also now scarred and will never be able to go through the woods again either."

"Your Majesty?" mumbled Orayo and he lifted his head a little, before groaning and going back down again.

"Are you ok? What happened to you?"

"I don't know . . . feels like a Goron sat on my head though. Last thing I remember was the water. More importantly, are you all right? I was out of service for Din knows how long."

"What's that supposed to mean? I can hold my own!" Daphnes cried, crossing his arms. His heart was only just beginning to slow down.

Orayo smiled.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, just give me a moment. I'm no match for the Goddesses. Get the feeling they're teasing us?"

"That's exactly what they're doing! But it's all right, because I think we're almost at an end of this."

Orayo said nothing, but got up gracefully instead, stretching his arms.

"Now . . . We go that way!" Daphnes cried, pointing to the entry way.

"That way?" Orayo said with, what sounded like sarcasm.

Daphnes was at first confused. What other way would they go? There were no other doors. Then he remembered that Orayo couldn't see where he was pointing. "Um, I mean forward. We go straight."

"No, I know what direction you're pointing at," Daphnes was taken aback. How did he know those things? "But where do you expect us to go? There are walls surrounding us and no doors."

"Oh no. There's a doorway right over there."

"What?" Orayo paused for a second. "No there's not."

"What?! What do you know?! You can't even see anything! I'm telling you, the doorway's right there!"

Orayo sighed. How could he explain this? "You see, when we talk, our voices echo right?"

"Yeah . . ."

"They're bouncing off all the walls. If there was any space at all for the sound to escape, it would sound_ slightly_ different. You, most likely, wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

Daphnes glared at Orayo for a second. "So . . . what you're saying is that there are no doors here. That we're stuck here with no clue on getting out and I'm seeing things."

"Yes."

For a second, Daphnes wanted to rip Orayo's head off, but calmed down quickly. He shouldn't get mad at Orayo. He wasn't really. He was just . . . mad, period, and needed to take it out on someone. He grabbed Orayo's hand and started marching to the entryway.

"Um . . . your Majesty?"

"We're going through the door."

Orayo stopped, causing Daphnes to stop for Orayo was stronger than the Prince. "You are going to run into the wall."

"Come on! It's just right there!" He let go of Orayo's hand and took a few more steps toward the door, turning around to face Orayo.

Orayo turned his head to Daphnes, his mouth slightly open. "How . . . did you do that?"

"See Orayo? I think it's in your head. I mean . . . you did say you weren't feeling right." Daphnes was actually quite smug about this. For once, it was Orayo losing his mind and not him.

"But . . ." Orayo lifted his hand, as if resting it on the wall that was not there. "The wall's right in front of me."

"Must be the Goddesses. They're the source of everything . . . _everything!_" he shouted into the air as if he was talking to the superior beings. His voice echoed throughout the room. To Orayo, all his senses–except for his eyes of course– were telling him there was a wall in between him and Daphnes.

Daphnes reached for Orayo's hand again. "If you believe that the wall is not there, then you'll get through. That's what I did." Orayo's hand stopped when it met the 'wall' with a _bonk _sound. Daphnes made a face at Orayo before trying again. "Orayo, you're being difficult."

_Bonk!_

_Bonk!_

_Bonk!_

_Bonk!_

Daphnes repeated this, completely forgetting that what he was trying to ram through the 'wall' was Orayo's fist, which was probably going numb about now.

Orayo was confused, tired and a little bit dazed. He wasn't used to the Goddesses playing with his mind. His dreams that he had when he was out of it were disturbing and he wasn't quite sure if he was actually awake. So he let Daphnes ram his fist into the wall. He wasn't that aware as Daphnes started to pull him away from the wall.

After they were a good distance away, Daphnes turned Orayo around and started running, dragging Orayo behind him.

_Crash!_

Orayo's hand was forced out of Daphnes' and he landed on his face, Orayo on his back.

Daphnes got up. "I have concluded that you cannot get past the wall."

"Um . . . 'kay . . ." Orayo pushed himself up as well. He leaned up against the wall to catch his breath. It looked strange to Daphnes . . . and he had a sense of deja vu.

His dream . . .

"The dream! Only the kids can go through!"

"What?" asked Orayo confused.

"I had a dream like this! And only the kids could go past! Like . . . Only the pure can pass . . . or something . . . and I couldn't go through when I was older . . . but I could pass now . . . I'm hardly a child!" he added as an afterthought.

Orayo thought about that for a while. "Could this have anything about your virginity?"

Daphnes gaped in horror at what Orayo just said.

"Don't tell anyone about that, by the way."

"Of course I won't, but do you think so? If the Goddesses were expecting someone young or moral and still be able to go through all of this and live. Doesn't that sound like something they would do?"

Daphnes spaced out as he thought about the Goddesses. They played with every fear he had, and to top it all off, they were making fun of his virginity.

"You . . . !" He shouted to the air again.

At first, Orayo thought he was talking to him. Orayo supposed he should get used to Daphnes' randomly shouting to the Goddesses. Though . . . it didn't seem like a healthy habit.

"But . . . that means I'll have to continue without . . . you." Daphnes sounded so hopeless that Orayo smiled.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. You 'can hold your own'."

"But . . . how will we get you out of here? I know! When I get the Triforce . . . I'll get you out." Daphnes wasn't sure how that would work, but the Triforce was supposed to grant wishes, right?

"Of course."

"Ok, then." Daphnes slowly backed away from Orayo. Orayo nodded, understanding. Suddenly, Daphnes ran back to Orayo and flung his arms around him, surprising the older Sheikah. "In case anything happens . . . Like the universe explodes or something--"

Orayo laughed, it rumbled from his chest, comforting Daphnes. "I'm sure nothing of the sort will happen. You are a kind Prince, Daphnes, and I'm sure you'll rule a great kingdom," he said, patting Daphnes' head.

Daphnes felt like he was about to cry, but bit his tongue to stop himself. "Right!" He turned around. "To the Triforce!" He marched forward, giving Orayo one last wave before disappearing into the next room.

The next room was much like the last one, except on the middle of floor of this one was a platform with a picture of the Triforce on it.

"Huh," Daphnes mused as he walked to it. He stood on it for about 10 seconds before he was suddenly tumbling through space, stars whizzing past him. He heard laughing, screaming and crying. He was also screaming. He might have wet his pants. He couldn't remember how long it lasted. It felt like forever, but it might have only been a second, and then he was back in a stone room again.

And then he saw it.

He felt like laughing and crying at the same time.

The Triforce was right in front of him, slowly spinning, a few feet in the air. It was simply three triangles, but it was so beautiful. Gold light shone from it and gave off a sound . . . almost like singing, but not quite.

Daphnes stood there, staring its beauty for a long time. He was so absorbed in it that he did not notice something lurking in the corner of the room, hidden by shadow. It was a small black dragon. Only about the size of a rather large dog, but its fangs dripped with poison.

It crawled up behind Daphnes and hissed, springing up behind him. Daphnes whipped around, drawing his sword as he did so. The creature landed on the sword, the sword slicing right through its body, but the poisonous fangs sank into Daphnes' shoulder.

The creature fell away, and Daphnes stumbled backwards. His vision was blurry and he couldn't stand without wobbling. He clumsily took off his over shirt and under shirt and any other things that were covering his shoulder. The bitten mark was black, and he could _see_ it start to spread to the rest of his body.

That was ok, right? It would get better on its own. He stumbled toward the Triforce, but fell so he crawled. He went to reach for it, his hands black with the creature's blood. He instead took his shirt and carefully wrapped that around the Triforce.

He held the bundle close to his chest. It felt warm.

And then Daphnes lost consciousness.

* * *

Nabooru was practicing with her scimitars alone. Ganondorf watched her from afar, debating on the safest way of approaching her. He came to the conclusion that there was just no safe way to approach Nabooru, especially now. 

Nabooru looked pissed, and though she always looked pissed, she looked more pissed than usual. Ever since the day he had punished her, she had been avoiding him.

He walked up to her, staying a far enough away distance so that she wouldn't be able to slice him open, hoping she would notice him. She either was too concentrated on what she was doing or was ignoring him, for she made no indication that he was there.

"Nabooru?" he said just as she was throwing one of her scimitars up into the air. She squeaked and spun around, for a second forgetting about the flying scimitar and only barely leapt out of the way as the scimitar landed blade down in the sand where she was. Ganondorf winced.

"WHAT?!" she screamed at him. It was weird how Nabooru could make him feel guilty, when she, obviously never had such a feeling for him.

"Nabooru," he tried again. "I have something to talk about with you."

"If you're gonna ask me to do some lame task for you, forget about it. Punish me if you like, but I don't care."

"No, it's just a question."

Nabooru said nothing. She just glared at him.

"Have you been avoiding me?"

"What the hell kinda question is that?! I hate you!"

Ganondorf looked kind of sad. "Do you hate me because I've done something to anger you recently, or is this the hate that you apparently have had 'forever'?"

"I've always hated you," was all she said.

Ganondorf sighed with relief. "So I haven't done anything to upset you."

"Of course not!"

Ganondorf smiled at her.

"Stop being happy! You shouldn't be happy! I'm showing you so much disrespect. You should be angry with me."

Ganondorf ignored that. "Are we still friends then?"

Nabooru looked at him in disbelief. "You gotta the be the most stupidest person EVER!"

"You're avoiding the question."

"Fine! Yes, we are," She said crossing her arms and glaring at her falling scimitar. "But not in public."

"Public . . . As in outside the Gerudo Valley?"

"Public as in _no one_ can see us together! _No one!_"

Ganondorf thought about what she meant for a while then said, "Are you friends picking on you?"

"NO! I don't get 'picked' on! I pick on them!"

"Just asking."

"And you gotta make me Second in Command when I'm older. I got to get something out of hanging around with the King."

"I don't doubt that you will. You're the best suited for the job besides Yazzman. I'd even make you King if I could. I'd love to actually; I hate being King."

"Then why don't you! I can make important decisions and stuff and I can protect everyone! I'm strong!"

"But I can't."

"Why not!?"

"First of all, you're a girl."

"So?!"

"You can't call a girl a king."

"_Why!?_"

"It's like sister. You can't call a boy a sister."

"Well, what do they call girl kings then?"

"Queens."

"Then why can't I be that then?"

"Because the Gerudo don't have queens."

She kicked sand on his boots. That didn't bother him at all. "I hate you!"

He turned to her and smiled, tenderly touching her cheek with his finger. "I like you, too." Then he turned away and started to leave.

Nabooru blushed. "We-well . . . I didn't say that you, moron! You're so retarded!" He ignored her and kept walking away. Nabooru could see he was chuckling to himself, which made her angrier. "That's right, walk away! You know I'd totally kick your ass if you stayed! I hate you!"

She angrily threw the scimitar she was still holding on the ground and screamed.

As Ganondorf turned the corner to the Fortress, Yazzman ran up to him. "Your Majesty! Three of the older generations died last night!"

"Three!? How?"

"They just weren't strong enough to wake up." This was a common event. People died all the time, but to have three just from fatigue was bad. "Your Majesty . . . we have to do something about this."

Ganondorf was silent for a moment before saying, "I know."

* * *

Nabooru sat on top of her bed. Everyone else in the room was asleep. The only people up would be the night guards. It was dark, the only light coming from the torches outside in the hall. Nabooru stared at her hands. She was too tired to actually get up, but not tired enough to go to sleep. All she could think about was Ganondorf. He made her feel so . . . angry, she decided. It had to be that. Every time she thought about him, her body got so hot and she felt like she was gonna burn up. 

Stupid Ganondorf. If only she_ could_ kick his ass. And it wasn't the rules that were stopping her. It was only because she was just incapable of doing so. "Why? Why! Why! Why! Why!" she cried, ramming her fist into the side of her hard bed.

"Go to sleep . . . Nabooru . . ." Niesha mumbled, half asleep.

Fine. She'll go vent her anger somewhere else. She stormed off. The guards let her go. They were trained to not let things _in_to the fortress, not out.

Outside was cold, as it usually was at night. The stars were bright. Out here she felt more sleepy. She couldn't feel sleepy till _after_ she went outside!

She went to the Archery course. She seemed to go there a lot. It must be her favorite spot, she decided.

But as she arrived, she noticed one of the horses out on the other side of the course.

Damn, now she was gonna have to go bring it back to the barn. It would probably run away at sight of her with her luck. She scrambled back toward the barn, to get some rope, then she headed toward the horse, hiding behind the crates and vases so not to frighten the animal away.

She stopped suddenly when she realized who's horse it was.

Ganondorf's . . . and Ganondorf was with it! She stifled a gasp. How come she kept running into him?! Man, this was embarrassing. What was she gonna say if he saw her? She looked like a freakin' stalker! She should leave. Yes, get the hell outta there. She started to turn, but stopped as a brilliant flash of purple lit the night sky. The horse reared up and let out a frightened scream.

Nabooru's cursing curiosity made her stay.

"No, no . . . shh . . ." Ganondorf murmured, holding the horse's nose to keep it from rearing again, his other hand igniting the small purple flame. He brought it closer to the horse's face. The horse quivered and let out a nervous nicker. Ganondorf continued to talk to it, calming the animal down.

The fire was so pretty, and Ganondorf's voice was so low and comforting that Nabooru felt herself become hypnotized with the horse. The flame danced between his fingers, growing and shrinking, his voice droning on. She couldn't tell what he was saying, but just his voice made her relax and she started to grow sleepy.

He stopped. Nabooru blinked. After saying on last word to the horse, he went around it, then moved away from horse with a humongous sword. It was as tall as Ganondorf himself, and almost as wide as Nabooru. The tip was rounded, almost like the end of an ax and it was the size of Nabooru's head. It looked heavy, way too heavy for Nabooru. He was holding it with one hand!

He was shirtless too. Nabooru felt a flash of annoyance. Was he trying to catch pneumonia? It was freezing out here! He swung the sword around him, making a loud whooshing sound. Nabooru could feel its wind from where she was.

Ganondorf continued his practice, and Nabooru continued to watch him. The moon shone on his naked chest, defining each and every muscle as the strained and relaxed while he slashed, stabbed and swung the sword about him. He moved slowly, but gracefully and strong. Nabooru never had thought of Ganondorf as being graceful before. Strong, yes, but not graceful. Like a lumbering bolder.

He was getting better, that's why. He used to be clumsy, but he wasn't anymore. Why was she even caring?!

Ganondorf started to let out a few grunts and cries as he spun the heavy sword around faster, and for some reason it was making Nabooru's skin crawl and heart go faster. She was leaving now.

She started to crawl away, when Ganondorf crashed his sword into the ground, making it move, sand shooting up into the air. She froze. His horse threw its head up in the air, startled at impact.

Ganondorf looked up and smiled apologetically. "Sorry there, Shadow." Nabooru rolled her eyes. Apologizing to a horse! She studied his profile. He was breathing hard, his skin now shiny with sweat, making the moon reflect off of it even more.

Sweet merciful Din . . .

She forced herself to scramble away, clutching the rope she still had. Her face felt hot, despite the cold night air. Maybe she could hang herself, or better yet, hang Ganondorf. It was bad enough she had to see him all the time. He didn't need to be in her thoughts as well.

An: Orayo says one line in Sheikan. . .so I've decided to translate it for you happy people.

_"Sa Nayru . . . Solona . . .kihah," _

Translation: "Oh Nayru . . . holey . . . shit."

Yep. That's what he says. Poor Orayo. He's not having a good day. I find it absolutly funny that he's swearing . . .but that's just me, the girl who laughs at any and everything for no reason what's so ever. I am NOT on drugs.


	10. Chapter 10 Sex Ed

An: Ok . . . oh my gosh . . . I blame the pervertedness of this chapter on Molly. I wasn't this bad till I met that girl. I know where Casey gets it now. Oh Daphnes . . . where did he ever come from? I don't know. Casey came up with the chapter title so that credit goes to her. This chapter pretty much about Daphnes, but there a short thing about Orayo and Sheik 3 and crap about Zoras cause I need to get the plot moving. I just realized that I didn't proof read this chapter . . .Well . . .Casey read most of it . . .so maybe it'll be ok.

Daphnes! hahahahaha.

Chapter10

Sex Ed.

Daphnes opened his eyes. Everything was white. Was this Heaven? No wait . . . the ceiling look familiar. He briefly remembered that the ceiling in the hospital wing looked that way.

Orayo! He had to go back for him!

He shot up into a seated position and was attacked by a sudden searing pain that went through one arm, his entire torso, neck and head. He let out a cry and fell back to his pillow.

"Daphnes!" Zelda was sitting next to his bed and suddenly stood up when she realized that he was awake. She placed her hands on his shoulders to make sure he wouldn't try to get up again, and looked into his face with worry. "You're awake!"

Daphnes had his eyes closed and was breathing hard. "I . . . have to get Orayo."

"The Sheikah? He's ok. You don't have to worry. Oh Daphnes!"

"What do you mean . . .? How . . .?"

"Shh . . . You should be resting. You've been unconscious for three days."

"WHAT?!" Daphnes sat up again before crashing into the bed with pain. Zelda winced.

"You mustn't," she said. "You've been poisoned . . . The doctors said you were going to die." Zelda's voice trembled as she said this, and cast her eyes downward.

"But . . . I'm ok now, right?"

Zelda didn't answer right away, lost in thought.

Daphnes panicked. "RIGHT?!"

"Oh . . .yes, right." Zelda smiled reassuring. "_Now_ you are."

"That's good . . . 'cause I don't feel alright," Daphnes moaned.

"Oh, where is it that you feel pain?" She lifted the blankets from Daphnes and he immediately sucked in his breath at the sudden exposure. Then he gasped again as he realized that his arm, neck and torso were a sickly black

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Shh . . . relax. It's alright."

"BUT THE– BUT THE–!"

Zelda placed her hands on Daphnes' skin and he went silently. "It's ok. I can heal it."

Daphnes made a noise. He was so aware of that their bare skin touching that he didn't have enough breath to say anything more. Goose bumps spread a crossed his skin and he prayed that Zelda didn't notice.

She took her green necklace that Daphnes had given her and pressed it against his skin. He winced as he felt a chill go through him, then a warmth and the black in his skin slowly faded away.

"How . . . how are you doing that?"

"I found out by accident. The pendent seem to help when it touched your skin. I was . . . I mean, so I thought that I'd continue doing this. I haven't told the doctors. They think that the Goddesses are saving you. Maybe they are."

"That's the necklace I gave you." He laid his fingers over the pendent. "I never knew that it could do such a thing."

Zelda looked at him. "It's nothing special compared to the Triforce."

"The Triforce! Did I-?! What happened to it?! Zelda I . . . Zelda," he took her hands and Zelda looked up surprised. "Zelda, I saw the Triforce. I almost touched it! I think I did touch it . . ."

"Daphnes . . ." Zelda said, looking up from what she was doing. "You brought it back."

"I did what?!"

"You brought it back. They put it in a special room, and it's floating on a pedestal somewhere in the castle."

"It's here?!" Daphnes tried to sit up again, but Zelda pushed him down.

"Please, Daphnes. Stay still."

"But! But the Triforce! No one should touch it! If they do, who knows what could happen!"

"Daphnes, it's ok. They're taking good care of it."

"But I need to–"

"Daphnes!" Zelda shouted, surprising Daphnes. "Just listen to me! You need to rest. You almost _died!_" Her voice cracked at the word. "I thought you _would_ die . . . . Your body was so lifeless . . ."

Daphnes leaned deeper into his pillow and looked at Zelda guilty. He didn't want Zelda to worry, though part of him felt warm at the fact that she did. He brushed her hand with a finger. "Hey," he said. "I'll stay in bed . . . Wife's orders." He smiled a little and after a bit, Zelda smiled too.

She continued to heal him with her stone, and Daphnes relaxed.

* * *

Orayo sat in his room, thinking. It was nice to be back home. If he never had to do anything goddesses related again, it would be too soon. He was pretty sure that the Goddesses hated him. It made sense. Reflecting on his life, he saw all the sins that the Goddesses might hate him for. Oh . . . yeah. The Goddesses couldn't be Gods, now could they? A god would understand and forgive him. A god might even think all the crazy stunts he had done when he was younger were funny. _He_ certainly found them amusing. But no, the Goddesses were women, and women seemed to have a sense of humor of a rock. No he took that back. They had a sense of a humor. A sense of humor that was cruel and sadistic and made him suffer. 

Behind him he heard some one approach him, trying to be quite and sneaky.

"_Sheik . . ."_ he said in Sheikan.

"_What?! How'd you know I was there?!"_ he said as he swung from the ceiling and landed in front of Orayo.

"_I could hear you breathing."_

"_But I was holding my breath! You must have this . . .physic . . . power . . . thing . . ."_

"_Mm-hmm . . ."_ Orayo murmured, not really paying attention. He got up and started cleaning up the books on his desk.

"_So . . . where were you the other day?"_ asked Sheik_ "We were looking all over for you. I said that you were battling evil and fighting dragons and stuff. Imy said I was just sprouting bull shit and to shut up, but if _you_ say something near the lines of what _I _said, then I could totally rub it in her face! Yep. It's the perfect plan. You may marvel at my genius. So where were you?"_

"_I was on a mission with the Prince."_

Sheik stared at him for a moment before falling into hysterical laughter. "_What was the mission!? Find the missing sock?!"_

"_Find the missing Triforce."_

Sheik stopped laughing. Then he started laughing all over again. _"Man . . . I feel sorry for you. How long did he waste your time?"_

"_Well, I wouldn't say he wasted my time . . . we did find the thing."_

All of a sudden, Sheik was on Orayo's desk, his face inches away from Orayo's bandaged eyes. _"Holey shit! Really!? How?! What happened!?"_

Orayo smiled. _"Battling evil and fighting dragons and stuff . . . though I wouldn't really call those things dragons . . . they were reptilian like . . . and they did breath fire, but don't dragons fly?"_

"_Oh man, wow! You should have took me with you!! Why don't you _ever_ take me with you! I want to have a chance to save the Prince's sorry ass!"_

"_Actually, the Prince saved my sorry ass."_

Sheik slumped down on the desk. _"Aw . . . for a second I thought you were being serious."_

"_I am being serious."_

Sheik laughed._ "No. You've _seen_ him."_ Sheik held up his pinky._ "My _pinky_ has more strength in it then he does in his entire body! If my pinky and him decide to sumo wrestle, my pinky would win in less then half a second. He weighs like 2 pounds, and if you take that dorky crown ma-thingy on his head, he weighs like nothing!" _

"_Sheik, this is why I don't take you places and why I won't pass you on your training."_

"_But whyyyyyyy?!"_ he whined, and Orayo regretted bringing up that subject again.

"_I told you 'whyyyyyyy'. You're too over confident and don't know when to shut up," _he said rapping him on the head. _"I can't take you into any public, especially any public that's _royal_, and you _have_ to do something about your confidence issue."_

Sheik waved his hand._ "Those are stupid reasons. I'm better then all the other kids combined!"_

"_In skill, not manners."_

"_And confidence is a good thing."_

"_Sheik . . . when I was young,–"_

"_Oh here we go!" _Sheik distorted his voice so it sounded like he had no teeth. _"Back in the olden days, we didn't have what you youngsters now call fun . . . no fun didn't exited back in the day! We didn't have confidence either and we ate dirt!"_

"_Sheik, I'm serious. I was a lot like you and I thought I could do things that I couldn't. That's how I lost my–"_

"_Your eyes, I know, I know. I'll be careful to avoid all pointy objects at eyes level."_

Orayo frowned at him.

"_And . . . you should pass me because you love me."_

"_I don't see why you're in such a hurry to pass. Most kids your age stay in training for at least four more years."_

"_Miko passed when he was my age!"_

"_Miko's different then you,"_ Orayo said, turning his attention back to his desk.

"_WHOA! Whoa! Whoa!"_ He grabbed Orayo's face and forced him to look at him . . . well, what would have been looking if Orayo had eyes to look with. _"Did you just say Miko is _different_ then me! No way! We're related! We're practically the same person!"_

"_Practically the same person? You in Miko? Did I just hear you say that? You must be pretty desperate if you're comparing yourself to your brother."_

"_Whatever, but he passed early. How did you know to pass him? Did he do some test? Could I have a test? What kind of test did he do?"_

"_Why don't you ask Miko?"_

Sheik laughed._ "You're so funny Orayo."_

"_You want a test?"_

"_Yes! I'll do anything! I'll swim an ocean, break into the Goron's mountain, _tickle_ the Gerudo king while he's sleeping . . ."_

"_How about . . . if you can sneak up behind me with a surprise attack me, I'll pass you early."_

Sheik gapped at him. _"Really?! That's it?!"_

"_That's it? I thought I was still somewhat of a challenge."_

"_Sure you are,"_ Sheik said somewhat halfheartedly. _"But I'll be passing in no time. Any second I'll be 'Wa-cha'ing you!"_

"_Good luck with that, and Sheik?"_

"_Hmm?"_

"_Could you get off my desk. I _am_ trying to do work."_

"_Sure thing, man . . . but be careful. Any second now, I could attack!"_

"_Mm-hmm . . ."_

"_See you latter!" _Sheik bounded out of the room. Orayo sighed as he turned a page of a book about the Triforce. A couple minutes latter . . .

_Crack! Crash!_ _"OW!"_ Sheik had his face pressed down on Orayo's desk, his arms pulled back behinds him. Orayo had Sheik's arms and was casually putting his weight on them, pressing Shiek's face more into the deck. _"Did you want something, Sheik?"_ he asked, while still using his free hand to read his book.

"_That was just a practice one!"_ Sheik said into the desk_ "Of course I wouldn't really attack you right after we were talking about it and it's fresh in your mind."_

"_Hmm . . ."_

"_Ok, ow! Lemme go!"_

* * *

Three days latter, everyone in Hyrule Market Town, knew of the existence of the Triforce, despite how much effort Daphnes tried to keep it secret. Lines among lines of people stood in front of the castle, hoping to have a good enough excuse to be let in and touch it. The King and Queen were ecstatic with having the new relic and couldn't stop smiling or talking about it. That was mostly how the secret got out. Fortunately, no one had yet touched the Triforce. As annoying as Daphnes' parents could be, they at least put the best security that the King's money could buy. 

Daphnes was sitting in the garden. Zelda had wanted him to take it slow, and being in the garden seem to be with in her standards of slow. It was quiet and it was nice place to think.

So many things could be done now that they had the Triforce. He could stop world hunger, poverty, violence . . . but he had to be careful. Daphnes was smart enough to know to be careful what he wished for. Any thing he said could and probably would be twisted into something horrible. He had to be smart. What would the Goddesses want him to do? Like he could possibly know what were in the crazy twisted Goddesses' minds!

But whatever it was . . . it would probably affect all of Hyrule, not just the Hylians . . . right? Maybe? He winced at the thought of the other races. They didn't get along very well. It would be funny when they heard that the Hylians had the Triforce . . .

His eyes suddenly went wide.

The other races finding out about the Triforce! If they found out that the Hylians had to all powerful Triforce, the power to make and destroy worlds . . . they would be pissed! That would be horrible! War would be unavoidable! Unless . . . maybe he could get to them in time, and explain to them. Maybe they could do something that would make everyone happy.

He tried to stand up from the stone bench he was sitting on, but the movement was to fast. Pain shot through his arm and shoulder. He winced and sat back down.

He thought he heard some commotion from inside, and then a servant approached. The servant bowed before saying, "Your Majesty, there is a man here that 'claims' to be a friend of yours." This wasn't a surprise. For the last six days, people have been claiming to be friends of his just to see if they could see the Triforce. Oh man . . . the Triforce . . . next thing will be that people might start hurting each other to see it . . . "His name is William and he refuses to give his last name, saying that he doesn't have one."

"Will?! Oh, you can let Will out."

The servant looked at Daphnes in surprise. "Well, if you say so . . ." The servant left. Daphnes thoughts were still on the Triforce. Everything could go seriously go wrong . . . and since they could, they would because that was just his luck!

Will came out, glaring at the servant as he did so, giving him an 'I'm watching you' look. Will had about had it with him. The little jerk wouldn't let him through! He turned his attention on Daphnes, clapping his hands together and smiling. "There's my little virgin hero!" he cried.

Daphnes didn't react at all to the virgin jab. "Will!" he cried. "The Triforce! It's horrible!" He got up, his arms flaring as he talked. "A _war_ could start between _all_ the races!"

"Yeah . . . speaking about virginity . . ." Will said, completely ignoring what Daphnes said.

"Do you think it might be possible that the Goddesses want war? No that doesn't make sense! The Triforce is suppose to be used for good."

"Zelda, . . . you know your wife? SHE'S FREAKING CRAZY!!"

"And the Triforce–"

"Daphnes!" Will grabbed Daphnes' shoulders and stuck his face in his. "Listen to me. I _know_ the Triforce is important. Nayru, the whole town is freaking out about it! I know war is bad. People die in war. And I know the Triforce is probably more important then your wife right now . . . the world to one person . . . but you can't . . . act like that, you know?"

Daphnes stared at Will confused.

"Zelda's . . . been kinda lonely and maybe you should do something about it . . . before it's too late."

"What do you mean by too late?"

"Like . . .you know . . . if a baby pops outta her that's not yours . . ."

"WHAT?!"

"No, no! Don't panic . . . you see, a couple weeks ago, Zelda came to the barn and we went riding, and boy was she crazy and . . .she was all like . . .and I . . .well you know, it was like . . ." Will didn't know how to explain it.

Daphnes panicked. "_WILL!_ WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY WIFE!?"

"NOTHING! Oh Farore, it was nothing like that! I mean, your wife's gorgeous and all, but I'm married, remember?"

"But are you saying you have an _attraction_ to my wife?!"

Will held up his hands in defense. "No! No. No, no, no, no, no! It's more like she makes me nervous. Zelda's beautiful and all but she scares the living crap outta me. I keep thinking she's gonna like . . . you know . . . jump me in a dark alley or something."

"Zelda wouldn't do that!" Daphnes cried.

"Well, maybe not like that, but she keeps coming to the barn, crying to me, and I don't know what to do, and I keep thinking this is going to end badly and I'm thanking the Goddesses that I stopped drinking every night–"

"Are you saying that Zelda could be attracted to you?!"

"Well . . . not me specifically . . . but more to anyone with male parts . . ."

Daphnes put his hands in his head. "Sweet Din, it would make perfect sense if she was attracted to you!"

"She's not attracted to me! I think she's just confused because she's married and she's . . .you know, still a virgin. She's gone mad. I actually wonder how _you_ managed to stay sane."

"What if Zelda has all these lovers that I don't know about?! I was unconscious for three days! Anything could have happened! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!"

"It's ok . . . those kinda things happen a lot in arrange marriages. You're actually the lucky one. You can have as many lovers as you want, but if she get's caught and has a child that's not yours she has to get decapitated."

"ARE YOU SAYING TO DECAPITATE MY WIFE?!"

"No, I was just trying to find a bright side. _You_ don't get decapitated."

"This is horrible!" Daphnes moaned into Will's shirt. "Nooo! No! No! No!"

"You could always . . . you know . . . try to make her happy . . . . You need an heir after all."

"I can't do it! I keep telling myself, 'tonight's the night,' and then I chicken out and I can't help it! There's just something wrong with me!" Daphnes sobbed into Will's shirt.

"I'd do it for you if I could."

Daphnes pulled away from Will. "I'd sentence your death in a millisecond!"

Will laughed. "I was kidding!"

"I was being serious!"

"Ok being serious. You really should talk to Zelda."

"Talk to me about what?" Suddenly Zelda was there and both of them jumped. "Hello, Will. What a pleasant surprise."

Daphnes was panicking again. Did she just say _pleasant_ surprise?! What did _pleasant _mean?! WILL WAS PLEASANT TO HER?! "Quick," whispered Daphnes to Will. "Say something to make her hate you!"

"Oh . . . uh . . . well . . . Hi Zelda, but I got to go . . . beat my wife . . . ."

Zelda laughed.

"IT'S NOT WORKING!" Daphnes cried.

Zelda looked at Daphnes, bewildered. "What's not working?"

"Uh . . . um . . . . Zelda, you're more important then the Triforce!"

" . . . Thank you, Daphnes . . ."

"You know what? I need sleep. Sleep is good. Sleep is . . . good. I'm gong to go sleep." Daphnes trudged away to his chambers.

* * *

A family moved their wagon along the Zora river on their way to Hyrule Castle Market Town. "Mommy, are we there yet?!" cried a little boy as he stumbled along the wagon. 

"Not now, Tommy," chided his mother, who was riding on the wagon and trying to mend her husband's pants.

"Quit complaining all the time!" said his second oldest brother.

"Do not!"

"Children!"

"I don't see why we have to go all the way to this place to see some stupid triangle!"

"Tommy! That stupid triangle is the sacred relic of the Goddesses! This is a special migration! The Goddesses should be ashamed of you! Get behind the line and pray for your soul!" cried out his mother.

Tommy grumbled to himself as he moved to the back of the line.

"Hey, dad!" said the oldest to his father. "If you think we can convince the King to actually let us see this thing, don't you think we can make a wish?"

"Are you daft, boy!" cried out his father. "Of course not!"

"Then why are we even bothering?"

"It's a religious right," said his mother. "He has to let us see it."

"Then . . . I bet if were real careful we could–"

"Quite!" cried out his father as he slapped upside the head. "You shouldn't even consider such a thing. Be grateful that we can see it."

The family stopped for the night alongside the river, and started a fire. They had come from one of the many Hylians that had settlements that dotted Hyrule field. They were making the trip of a life time to actually see the Triforce. What they didn't know, is how many people were also trying to see it, and the likeness of them seeing it was almost zero.

As the family sat around the fire, eating their dinner, the two younger boys augured with each other.

"Am not!" cried the youngest.

"Yes you are! You're always complaining. 'Oh, my feet hurt' 'oh I'm tired'!"

"I can't help it!"

"That's why your weak!"

Tommy threw a rock at his brother.

"Mom! Did you see that!"

"Tommy! Don't throw rocks! If you're going to behave so badly, I'm going to give out a time out!"

Tommy got up with out saying anything.

"Don't you leave the campsite!" his mother called after him, assuming he had just went to the other side of the wagon, but he had in fact went farther.

He had stopped at a portion of the river farther off, staring into the dark waters. He picked up a bunch of rocks, and started to chuck them into the river, pretending that it was his brother. The water bubbled as the rocks sank to the bottom. As Tommy stared into the water . . . the water seemed to bubble more then it should . . .

. . . A pale blue face slowly rose from the water. At first Tommy thought it was a fish, but a neck followed the head and so did a pair of shoulders. The creature stared impassively at the boy with its black pupil-less eyes. Tommy fell over in shock and let out a cry.

The creature answered him with a low bubbly language of clicks, before rising even more out of the water so that his chest was out.

"M-mom!" Tommy ran back to his family.

Another head poked out, looked at his friend, before they both dived back under the water silently and followed the boy. "Mom! Dad! There's something in the water!"

His family turned their heads in his direction and didn't see the Zoras come out of the water. They had done it so quietly and so smoothly that they weren't noticed till the family turned there heads back and saw them.

The father gasped and went for his crossbow. As he fumbled with it, a long bow decorated with rare and beautiful shells rose from the water, being held by a blue webbed hand. The hand gave it to one of the Zoras that was on the ground, and the Zora drew it, taking an arrow in the same matter, before the man could even think to load his crossbow. The Zora said something in his language, before aiming at the man, drawing back to his finned ear and . . .

"NO! WAIT!" cried his wife, throwing herself in front of him.

The Zora stopped and looked at the woman strangely. He said something to his friend who seem to say something else to the water. Then another Zora rose from the water and looked at the poor family.

" . . .You . . ." said the Zora that had just recently arrive, having trouble speaking the word. "You . . . disturbed . . . the water . . . you . . . Hylians . . ."

The boy his behind his mother.

"Please," said the man. "We are just passing though to go to the Hylian castle to pay our respects to the Triforce!"

The Zora that could speak Hylian, eyes went wide. "Did you say . . . the . . . Triforce?"

The man nodded his head as he wept. "YES! Yes, the Triforce please let me and my poor family go!"

The Zora translated to the others. The one with the bow glared and suddenly drew his bow again, spitting out something dark in their own language.

The family cried out, but the Hylian speaking Zora stopped the other by putting a webbed hand on his shoulder.

The threatening Zora narrowed his eyes at the family, listen to the quite language the Hylian speaking Zora gave him. He then spoke one word in answer, and the Hylian Zora then turned his black gaze to the father.

"You . . . are to come with us," he almost whispered.

"What?!" cried out his wife. "You can't take him! You'll bring him back, right?!"

"You . . . will obey," was all the Zora said. The other Zora's closed in on the family and placed their webbed hands on the arm of the man.

"No!" moaned the woman.

"I'll be ok," replied the man. "I'll be right back," and the Zora's pulled him away from his family and to the edge of the water. "I'll be right back," he repeated.

Tommy cried into his mother as the family gazed at the man with worry. The Zora looked at the man, and a small smile slowly came across his lips, as if he wasn't used to smiling. Then he said, as if the Zora was attempting humor, "Can you hold your breath?"

They plunged into the cold water, two Zora's holding each of the man's hand. After the shock of the water tinging his face, they were suddenly shooting through the water, so fast that he thought his arms would be pulled off. The pressure of it was too much for him, and he passed out rather quickly.

* * *

One of the Zora gracefully pulled himself gracefully onto the land. They were inside a cave inside a cliff, the only entrance to it was through a heavy waterfall, that was impossible to get a cross, unless you were a Zora, and there were a few other secret ways under the water. The rock that made up the walls and floor were smooth and slippery, and a huge underground waterfall filled the pool that the Zora had just climbed out of. The roar, of it was the only sound. The light coming from torched that lined the wall. The spacy room had a serene effect, and if one watched closely, they could see the form of a Zora flit through the water. 

The Zora looked down into the water, waiting for his companions to surface. The three Zora's poked their head's out of the water. The Zora that was not in the water, looked at them strangely for a moment before saying, _"Whre is the Hylian?"_

One of the Zora's lifted the Hylian's hand out from under the water, which then fell limply beneath the water.

"_You have to get it out of the water!"_

"_Why?"_ asked the Zora lazily. He was rather happy that the Hylian had stopped struggling.

"_Hylians can not breath in water! L'eau."_

The Zora, now realizing his mistake, through the Hylian out of the water, where he laid unceremoniously on the ground.

"_Oh no," _said the first.

"_What is it?"_ asked L'eau.

"_It is not breathing," _He replied

"_But it is _out_ of the water,_" said L'eau quite frustrated with the Hylian by now.

The first Zora placed both of his hands over the Hylian's chest. The other Zoras crowed around them. _"Shh,"_ hushed one of the Zora's. _"Luke is about to perform Hyalin magic . . ."_

Luke pushed down on his fists and water squirted out of the Hylian's mouth.

"_Good . . ."_

"_Hylian's are terribly disgusting creatures," _commented L'eau.

"W-where am I?!" cried out the man, when he was able to talk.

The Zoras ignored him and hauled him up by the shoulder. They started to drag him over the slippery stone, where the man would continually slip. The Zoras took no notice of the man's difficulty as they dragged him up a set of steep stairs that lead up to a tunnel. The man closed his eyes until he felt his face hit stone and the Zoras let go of him. He looked up to see a small waterfall, that seemed to be a throne, for a very large, round Zora was sitting on it. The large Zora looked at the man through one eye.

"_What _is_ that?"_

_"It is a Hylian, your Majesty,"_ replied Luke.

"_Well, get rid of it. I do not want it here. It is too dangerous."_

"_But–"_

"_No, no," _interrupted the king. _"No exceptions!"_

"_Maloo . . ."_ came another voice from the water that pooled around the stone that the Hylian and the other Zora's were standing on. Another Zora appeared in front of them. The Hylian heard no sound of the Zora leaving the water, and hardly even saw her do so.

This Zora was obviously female and her head looked different then the other Zoras. It didn't have a fin growing out of it, nor was it shaped like a normal head. It was almost alien shaped, the proportion to big for her body and she looked like she had a small pair of extra eyes on the side of her head. Where those eyes? He couldn't tell, but her main eyes were beautiful. Unlike the black pupil less eyes of the others, her's were blue . . . or sometimes green, depending on the light and sparkled with a smile that hadn't quite been made on her lips yet.

"_There must be a very important reason for Luke to bring a _Hylian _into the Domain . . ." _She said in Zora, her face inches away from the Hylian, curiosity in her eyes as she stared at the groves on his skin. _" . . . Isn't that right, Luke?"_

"_Yes,"_ Luke answered.

The Zora king muttered something, but she raised her hand gracefully, silencing him.

The Hylian trembled and tried to lean away. She lay a wet hand on his cheek. "Do not be afraid. We will not hurt you." _"Well Luke?"_

"_He claims that the Triforce resides with in the Hylian city of Hyrule Castle Market Town."_

The female Zora blinked her large eyes. _"The Triforce?"_

"_Yes."_

"_The Triforce?!"_ the King repeated.

"_Yes,"_ Luke said almost annoyed.

"_THAT'S HORRIBLE! NOT BE STAND FOR! WAR! WAR AT ONCE!"_

"_Shh! Shh!!"_ the women hushed him before turning to the Hylian. "Is the Triforce held at your capital?"

"Ah, y-yes!"

She eyed him. "Why?"

"Why?" he asked. "Well, it has been found! The King has it! It shall be a time of greatness!"

"_Your_ king has it?"

"Yes . . . I guess.

"Do you see how it might make the Zoras a little nervous that _your_ king has all that power for him to use as however he pleases, hmm?" she asked sweetly.

The Hylian nodded stupidly.

"What gives the Hylians the right to keep the Triforce?"

"Well . . . you see the Prince found it."

"_Your_ prince found it. And we Zora's are born in water. We found the water first. Does that give us the right to keep it from you?"

The Hylian hesitated before shaking his head, no.

"Right. The Triforce does not belong to the Hylian King. I am not asking him to give the relic to us, but only to get rid of it. Return it to where it once belonged. Can you tell your king that?"

"We-well I not so sure if he'll believe me. Could you write it down on paper?"

"Paper?" asked Luke at the recognizable word.

"_Paper,"_ she answered in they're own language. _"I believe it is made from trees. Paper . . .paper . . . I wonder if we even have any . . . oh maybe. In storage, the dry storage aria . . ."_

L'eau pushed himself forward and bent to his knee. _"Your Majesty, I'll be honored to search for paper for you . . ."_

"_Why thank you, L'eau!" _she said with pleasure. _" That would be very kind of you."_

The other Zora's stared at L'eau and then back to the queen. _"I'll search for the paper, for you too!"_ said another one and kneeling.

"_Me too!"_

Luke rolled his eyes.

L'eau eyed his competition for a moment before diving into the water an swimming away. The other's followed him.

"You will give this paper to your king?"

The Hylain nodded.

To Luke she said, _"Make sure you blind fold him on his way out, though I doubt he will be able to make sense of how to come back here."_

* * *

Night 1 

Daphnes laid in bed staring at the ceiling. Zelda slept beside him. He could hear her sigh softly in her sleep. It was a sweet, innocent sound.

Zelda didn't have secret lovers . . . what was he thinking? He should be more rational. Rational and relaxed. There was no reason to be worried about . . . 'it'. It was a . . . 'necessary' job giving to both him and Zelda to produce an heir to the throne.

So . . . yeah.

HE WASN'T NERVOUS . . .or anything . . . . How long was he going to prolong this? Every year that went by . . . it was just going to get harder. He should stop right now. Just stop.

Stop now.

Now . . .

He should do it now. Tonight. Get it over with. Yeah! Why not? He was Prince of Hyrule. He had the right! It was his job!

Yeah. Good. Once he decided this he felt much better. Like a weight had been lifted from him. Tonight. He'll roll over, wake Zelda up, and . . .yeah . . . Yeah!

Ok, he'll do it on three.

One.

Two.

Three!

Yes!

Wait . . . he hadn't moved. He was still staring at the ceiling. Weird . . . he could have sworn he had moved. He thought he had rolled over . . . or did he just picture that in his mind? Yeah, he must have done that. Okay, he'll try again.

One.

Two.

Three!

Nope . . .it still didn't work. Man, it seemed so much easier to simply move his legs in his mind then to actually do so. Why was it so hard? Was it just because he was tired? Was it because he got hurt awhile ago and he was stiff? Oh no! What if he really couldn't move? What if had become paralyzed because of the poison?! No! This couldn't be happening! He had to move!

Move!

MOVE!

Daphnes shot up into a sitting position and let out a scream.

Oh wait . . . he could move . . .

Zelda woke up beside him. "Daphnes! Are you alright!"

Daphnes sat there feeling more then stupid.

" . . .Daphnes?"

He turned his head to Zelda, looking at her beautiful worrying blue eyes. She was awake now. He should do it now. Do it now. DO IT!

"I . . ." he swallowed.

Zelda waited for him to finish.

"I . . . think I had a nightmare."

"Oh . . . do you want to talk about it?"

"I can't remember it."

"Alright then . . . I hope you don't have anymore." She laid back down.

DAMMIT!

* * *

Day 2 

"Hey Dad?" Daphnes stopped his father when they passed each other in the halls.

"Yes, son?"

"I . . . want . . .to talk about something . . . . you know, about the whole heir issue."

"I know, I know, you want to _wait_."

"Actually . . .I think I'd like to try . . ."

"Really?" He took Daphnes shoulders. "This is excellent news!"

"Well . . ." Daphnes blushed a little. "I kinda tried last night . . ."

The king looked at Daphnes in shock. "You did?!"

"But . . . but there was an issue."

"Oh . . ." The king smiled knowingly and put an arm around his son. "She mad at ya?"

"No, no," Daphnes ducked under his arm and turned so that they were facing each other. He lifted his hands as he talked trying to explain. "Ok, it's like . . . I . . .can't . . .move."

The king look at him confused before saying, "What, you can't get it up there?"

"No! Oh Dad, no! That's not it! I didn't even get that far!" He pressed his eyes with his hands before continuing. "It's like I feel that my whole body is paralyzed."

" . . .Really . . ." said the king. "You want to see a doctor?"

"No, I don't think–"

"DOCTOR!" his father cried in the halls. Of course being the King, a doctor heard him and quickly went over to the prince and his father. "Doctor!" said the King once he had arrived. He put an arm around his son's shoulder again. "We have an issue. You see, my son can't get it up there."

Daphnes' face turned bright red, and he slapped a hand over it. "Oh sweet Din," he muttered.

"Get what up . . .exactly?" asked the doctor.

"Well . . . you know . . . what makes him a man . . ."

"It's not that!" cried out Daphnes.

"Oh . . ." said the doctor, understanding now. "You know, you can take a pill for that."

Trying to escape, Daphnes cried, "Mother!"

* * *

Night 2 

"Zelda . . ." Daphnes whispered in the dark. "Zelda . . .?" he said again, forcing himself to poke her.

"Hmm? What is it Daphnes?" She rolled over to face him.

"There's . . . something I have to talk to you about. It's kind of hard for me to say . . ."

"Is this about your dreams?" Zelda asked.

"Ah . . . yeah. But this dream . . . it's a very weird dream. It's like I can't ever see it happening in real life . . ."

"Dreams are often like that. They may seem real when you're having them, but when you wake up, you realize that that kind of stuff could never really happen. That's why they're called dreams."

Daphnes opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Could never really happen.

Great.

* * *

Day 3 

"Mother?" Daphnes found her getting her hair brushed, and sat down to talk to her.

"What is it, Daphnes?"

"Who . . . who decided to have me when you did? You or dad?"

"Well, no one decided. You had to be born after all."

"Yeah . . .ok, but . . . who, you know, put on the first move?"

"The first move?"

"You know . . . the whole making of me process. Where I came from."

"Oh Daphnes . .. Babies come from the stork!"

" . . .?"

* * *

Night 3 

One.

Two.

Three.

Dammit!

* * *

Day 4 

"Will! Oh Will!" Daphnes found Will in the stable yard and grabbed on to his shirt, burying his face into Will's chest. Will shifted his eyes back and forth at the people who lifted there heads at this. "I can't do this! There is no heir! No baby! I can't make babies!"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Ok! Ok! Let go of me!" Will pried Daphnes' fingers from his shirt.

"I don't know what to do! I mean, I know before I wasn't really trying, but now I'm trying and I-"

"Are you crying?"

"Will . . . This . . . is a problem. Like a huge problem! You know what hangs in the balance in this!? My dignity, Zelda's love or 'fondness' or what ever the hell it is!, my future kid, the heir, the future of the country!"

"Well . . . the tears in your eyes aren't helping the dignity part . . ."

"Will!"

"Ok! But Daphnes, I got work, and I've-" Daphnes pushed a wad of gold coins into Will's chest.

"You get the day off!"

"Uh . . .ok . . . let's get back to my house before more people show up."

At Will's house, Will sat Daphnes on a chair in the kitchen and sat down beside him. "Ok . . . I got to get one thing straighten out, ok?"

Daphnes stared out blankly, his eyes slightly puffy.

"Hey, Daph?" Will snapped his fingers in front of his face. "You with me?"

"Oh . . .oh yeah."

"Ok, answer this question for me . . . You straight?"

"I-I think so . . ."

"You _think_ so? Daphnes you're killing me! How can you not know!?"

"I-I'm sorry! I'm just confused!"

"You once told me you loved Zelda."

"I do!"

"Ok good. Good. You love her, right?"

"Yeah . .."

"She's beautiful . . ."

"Yeah . . ."

"Her hair is the most beautiful gold you've ever seen . . ."

"Yeah . . ."

"And her eyes . . . they can like pierce your soul . . ."

"Yeah . . ."

"And her body . . ."

"Yeah . . ."

"You want to be with her . . ."

"Yeah . . .

"Then why don't you NAIL HER, DAMMIT!" Will smacked Daphnes on the head. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Daphnes flung his head and arms on the table and mumbled something that Will couldn't understand. "Ok . .. Will sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We'll try this a different way. You obliviously want to do this . . . so that means . . . you've almost tried . . . so how far do you get, and then maybe we can figure out your problem?"

"I get in the bed. That's it."

"Good! Good! That's a step forward!"

"Augh . . . "

"Ok, ok, come over here." Daphnes pushed himself off the table and stood up. "Now get down on the floor."

"What?"

"Lay down, I'll be Zelda."

"Is this going to be awkward?"

"No, it'll be fine." They both laid down on the floor together, side by side. "So your lying in bed . . ." Will continued, "and what do you do?"

"I'm usually just staring at the ceiling."

"Ok, what are you thinking about?"

"I don't know . . ."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"It's kind of hard to think. This floors really hard. It's hurting my back"

Five minutes latter they were laying on Will's bed.

"This feels _so_ wrong."

"Yeah, I know, but we're ignoring that right now. Ok . . . so, what do you feel . . .?"

"Well . . .this is different. Your bed's a _lot_ smaller then mine and Zelda's."

"Yeah, I know! I'm not rich Daphnes."

"But the thing is. At home, our bed's so big that when Zelda and I sleep, there's enough room that we don't touch each other . . .but now . .. I can feel you."

"Ok, that's it!" Will sat up. "I'm not being Zelda anymore!"

"No wait! I'm sorry! Can we try one more time?"

Will crossed his arms a fell back down, glaring at the ceiling. "The things I do fo you! The _things_ I do for you!"

"I'm _paying_ you."

"You want your money back?!'

Kate threw the door open, "MOMMY! Daddy _is_ in here!"

"Are you sure, Katie? I thought I heard Daddy's voice but he's suppose to be at wor-" Rosie stopped at the bedroom doorway, still holding her groceries, staring at the two men in her bed.

"Hey baby!" Will said, smiling innocently at up at his wife.

"What are you two guys _doing?_"

* * *

The three of them were now sitting at the kitchen table. Will had explained Daphnes' problem to Rosie, hoping that maybe a female input would he do good for the situation. 

"So . . . what your saying," Rosie said, looking at Daphnes who had actually said anything. Will was doing the talking. "That you are afraid?"

" . . .I guess."

"Like your afraid that to you'll screw up and make her hate you forever if you don't want her too because you love her and you want to be happy with her for the rest of your life?"

"Um . . . yeah . . .maybe . . .I think that's it."

"That is so ADORABLE!" She left her chair and went over to him. "You poor innocent baby!" she took Daphnes' head and pressed it against her chest. "That's so sweet that you're putting her feelings before your own!"

"Rosie . . .what are you doing?" Will asked in a low voice.

"Can't you see that this poor man needs comfort?!"

"Rosie he's a grown man. Stopped treating him like a baby."

"I can treat how ever I want,"

"_Not really,_" said Daphnes between clenched teeth. "He's the Prince."

"Oh, that's true . . ." Rosie mused . .. Still holding Daphnes' head who couldn't breath and was waving his arms in a vain attempt to escape. "Well, if the Prince needs comfort, then it's also my duty to give it to him!"

"Wait . . . what does that mean?!"

Daphnes managed to ram his arm on the table.

"Oh, sorry Your Majesty!" said Rosie letting him go. Daphnes gasped for breath, his face pink.

"See what ya did!" Will cried. "Just sit back down!"

"Daddy!" Kate pulled on Will's pants.

"What?!"

"Mommy ah independent woman and that you can't tell her what to do . . ."

Will stared at his daughter for a moment before looking at Rosie and saying, "You taught to say that?"

"I didn't teach her anything. She's just naturally brilliant."

"Listen, Katie go away. We are talking about adult matters."

"But I don't want toooo!"

"Hey Katie look!" he pulled out one of Daphnes' gold coins. "Isn't it shiny?"

"Yeah!"

"You want it?"

"Yeah!"

Will threw it out of the room. "Go fetch." Katie stumbled after it.

"I thought you were going to give that back," said Daphnes.

"You're a terrible father," replied Rosie.

"Yes, I'm going to Hell, whatever."

"Anyway Daphnes . . . about your problem . . ."

"My problem . . ."

"You have to show her that you care about her."

" . . . How?"

"I don't know," Rosie said looking at Will, trying to think of ways that Will showed he loved her. She wiggled closer to him. "Wrap your arms around her and kiss her . . ."

"Kiss her?"

"Ha!" said Will.

"What's wrong," asked Rosie.

"Daphnes can't kiss."

"I can too!" Daphnes cried out in defense.

"Not well," Will answered.

"How do you know!? It's not like you're there all the time!"

"Ok, listen. If you were a good kisser, Zelda wouldn't be damning you to the sky."

" . . . Zelda was damning me to the sky?" Daphnes asked in a quite voice.

"I mean . . .no! Of course not. Why would she do that?"

"Well anyway," Rosie said trying to change the subject. "The best thing would be probably be to practice."

"I am _not_ being Zelda again for this!" Will declared throwing his arms up into the air.

"I . . . could be Zelda . . ." Rosie said getting up from her chair.

"What?! No you ain't!" Will said, putting a hand on her chest a pushing her back down.

"Then who's going to be Zelda, Katie?" Rosie said in a huff, crossing her arms.

"Daphnes can be Zelda. He's already a girl as it is."

"But . . . . who's going to be me?" asked Daphnes.

"You of course. Who else?"

"But . . . how does that work?"

"I don't know ok!"

"Any way, Your Majesty. You could just talk to her. Women like it when men tell them their feelings."

Will rolled his eyes. "Like that will get him anywhere."

"What do you mean?"

"Then she'll just keep on talking and never shut up."

"Are you trying to say something, William?"

"Say what?"

"Are you saying _I_ talk to much?! At least I'm doing something instead of sitting on my ass! Why aren't you working?!"

"I'm trying to be helpful! I was doing just fine, till you came home!"

"Really? Like lying in bed with the Prince. . . I don't know what to make of that one, Will."

"Well . . ."

"Hmm . . .?"

"Maybe that wasn't one of my best ideas, but it seemed good at the time."

"They always seem good to you 'at the time', but you never think about anything!"

"Maybe . . . I should leave . . ." said Daphnes.

"Spur of the moment here we go . . . it doesn't matter that we hardly have jobs , have no money, or even a house, let's screw around and see what happens! Oops! You're pregnant!" Rosie cried out, standing up.

"You could have . . . .!" Will stood up too. " . . . done something."

"Done what?"

" . . . I don't know. But you didn't stop me Miss Oh-I'm-gonna-swish-my-skirt-in-front-of-all-these-men-to-see-if-it-turns-them-on!"

"Ok, maybe that night I was a little drunk . . ."

"Drunk?! You were wasted!"

"Guys?" Daphnes said meekly.

"I was no where near as bad as you! I was surprised you even knew where I was, the way you were kissing me."

"Ha, you liked it."

"Liked it? _Please!_ Remember when I said you were good? You were down right horrible! I lied."

Will grabbed Rosie's shoulders and pressed his mouth against hers. Rosie wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Um . . ." Daphnes eyes went wide. "Uh . . .I'm going to go now. Ok? So . . .I'll just be leaving." Daphnes slipped out the door.

Katie came back with the coin. "Daddy, I found it!"

"Huh? What?" Will pushed Rosie away from him.

"Oh where did the Prince go?" asked Rosie.

"What Prince?"

Rosie smacked him.


	11. Chapter 11 In Which, the Hylians

An: Ok, I had some trouble with the spacing at the end of the chapter . . . it might have something to do with me copying it straight from an email . . . .

Though this starts with the Hylians, there actually a lot of the Gerudo in this too . . .'cause I like the Gerudo.

I'm not suppose to upload this untill I write more on my story on Fictionpress . . .I don't remember promising this, but it's what my friend said so . . . shh . . .Maybe she won't notice.

Chapter 11

In Which . . . the Hylians Remain Brilliant . . .

Now, whatever happened to the unfortunate man who had met with the Zora? He was sitting in a cell for causing a disturbance. He had insisted and insisted that he brought a letter to the Hylian King, and when the guards ignored him, for he was only a common man, he started a scene and was sentenced to a week in the dungeon. Still he wailed on about wars and Zora inside the cell so that the guards took the letter from him and said they would give it to the King just to make the poor man shut up. The unlucky man was given an extra week for the additional ruckus.

Now the guards didn't actually intend to give the letter to the King. They had all come to the conclusion that this man was not mentally stable. It wasn't till several days later, when the guards were on their break, and playing cards, when they even thought about the letter again.

One of the guards that was losing, and happened to have the letter in his pockets, was searching his pants for some extra money. He pulled the crumpled letter out, along with a few more rupees.

Another laughed. "You betting that paper, too?"

"Oh . . ." The guard said picking it up, trying to remember what it was. "Oh, it's that letter that crazy man wanted the king to read. You think it's worth anything?"

"Maybe a sixth of a rupee," answered another, taking the letter and eyeing it critically. "The guy couldn't even write, it's just a bunch of squiggles on it."

"Maybe you can pretend it's some foreign language."

"Wait a minute . . . Didn't that guy said the letter was from the Zora?"

"I can't remember. I wasn't listening."

"Let me see that." One of the guards took the letter to look at it more closely. "Guys, I think this is Zora writing."

The others looked at him. "Think that might be important . . .?"

* * *

"Your Majesty?"

The King sputtered a bit and tried to turn his somewhat massive body around in the tub to see the messenger more clearly.

"Excuse me! I'm taking my royal bath!"

"Yes, sire! I'm terrible sorry. Should I come back later?"

"No, no. You already woke me up. You might as well tell me." The royal scrubbers had stopped their scrubbing at the distraction of the messenger. "Keep working, what am I paying you for?!" The King said, waving his hands. The scrubbers continued.

"Well . . ." said the messenger reluctantly. "A letter has been found addressed to you. It is _believed_ to be from the Zora."

"The Zora? What could they possibly want? Well give me the letter."

The messenger didn't particularly want to get any closer to the King in the tub, so he offered, "Your Majesty, the paper is sure to get wet. How about I read the letter to you?"

"Good idea."

The messenger opened the letter and took a deep breath. Of course this way, the messenger had to stay, and could become a target for any rage the King may have upon reading of the letter.

"_To the King of the Hylians,_

_The Zora have become aware that the Hylians have found a very sacred relic, one that could change all of Hyrule in an instant. I am speaking, of course, of the Triforce. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how much power you hold now, and how dangerous power can be. The Zora feel uneasy with any one person having this power. Since when has the Triforce belonged to one race? We ask that you please get rid of the Triforce or give it to the Zora for safekeeping. We would keep it safe from harm, of course, and protect it well._

_If you refuse to give the Triforce to us, we will understand, but we will not stand for you keeping it, so you must destroy it if that is the case. Get rid of it, or we will be forced to take action. Send a letter back and we will send a Zora to make sure that the work is done._

_Thank you very much,_

_Queen Lyra of the Zora"_

"WHAT?! WHO DO THOSE FISH PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE?!" The King was so upset that he thrashed around in the tub, spraying water everywhere, the 'royal scrubber' stepping back so not to get hurt. "YOU KNOW WHY THEY'RE DOING THIS!?"

The messenger, his eyes wide at the King's outburst, shook his head no.

"They want to take it from us! 'We will send a Zora over to oversee the process!' That's so they'll know exactly where it is, and take it!"

The messenger hesitated. "What should we do then, Your Highness?"

"Hmm . . . this is a dilemma . . ." The King pondered for a moment. "Well we will _not_ submit to them by sending them a letter . . . but I will have a meeting with my advisers. Royal Scrubbers? I dismiss you! Send for my advisers, this meeting must take place at once!"

The messenger left with the message immediately, afraid if he stayed to long, the King may stand up in his excitement.

* * *

The meeting started, with a clean and dressed King, the multiple frowning advisers, and Daphnes, who would really rather Zelda had gone in his place. "As you can see," The King said after he explained the problem. "This is not good."

"How strong are these Zora? Do you think they could possibly be a threat to us?" asked one of the advisers.

"Hmm . . . you're right. The Zora have never been very bright . . ."

Daphnes let out a breath. This whole fiasco was doomed to end badly.

"But," said another adviser. "The Zora do supply our water source . . ."

"That's true," agreed the King. "But," he added, brightening as an idea occurred to him, "we have the Triforce now! If we run out of water, we could simply wish for more!"

"That's a marvelous idea!" said the first adviser. "You hardly need us, Your Majesty, really"

Yep . . . This was already going badly. Maybe Daphnes should say something in the Zora's defense . . .

"But the Zora will get angry . . ." said another adviser. "They could try to attack."

"But . . . the Triforce again," answered the King. They all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Um . . . do you think . .. Maybe we should . . . think of the moral aspects to that?" asked Daphnes weakly.

"Son," said the King. "There isn't 'moral' in ruling a county. We must choose the lesser of two evils. Think of the horrors if the Zora tried to take over the country with the Triforce!"

"This is what we'll do . . ." said an adviser. "We will send them a returning letter. When they send a Zora, we'll _pretend_ to get rid of the Triforce. That way, the actual use of the Triforce is at a minium."

"BRILLIANT" cried out the King.

Oh sweet Goddesses . . . thought Daphnes. It might be a good thing Zelda wasn't here.

* * *

"I'm hungry . . ."

"Yeah . . ."

"Life sucks!"

"Yeah . . ."

Yasha threw her scimitar on the floor. "I wanna kill something!"

"Yeah . . ." Niesha agreed.

"We _should_ kill something!"

"Yeah . . ."

"But who. . . . Not Aria, because she's stronger then me . . . And so is Krea . . . And Nabooru . . ."

"Yeah . . ."

"But you . . ." Niesha gave Yasha a look.

"Yeah . . ." Yasha gave up.

"THAT'S IT! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I'M GOING INSANE!" Yasha and Niesha stared at Aria for a moment. "We can't live this way! Our race is starving to death, and the King won't do a damn about it!"

"I know!" said Yasha with excitement. "We can kill the King!"

"Yeah . . ." said Niesha. "Good luck with that." She patted her on the back.

"WE SHOULD KILL THE HYLIANS!" Zea cried out, jumping up and bracing her arms. It was like the day of unusual outbursts from normally rather quiet people.

"YEAH!" agreed Yasha. "Let's do it now!"

"You do realize that you're acting stupid, right?" Aria asked.

"I thought this was your idea."

"It was Zea's . . ."

"Oh . . . really . . .?" Yasha looked around tiredly.

"Though seriously," Niesha said. "The King's pissing me off. We need to punish those stupid Hylians."

"WE SHALL GO TO WAR!!" Yasha screamed.

"Should we be worry about Yasha's suddenly blood lust?" Niesha asked mildly.

Krea happened to be walking by, a frown on her face as if she had just finished arguing with someone.

"Krea! How do you think we can convince the King to go to war?"

"Like he'll listen to any of us," Krea said, without breaking her stride.

"But if he _did_ . . ." pressed Niesha.

Krea stopped. "He still wouldn't do it. Men only think with two things."

"That being . . .?" asked Zea.

Krea gave a sigh of irritation. "Food . . ."

"Well we don't got that," said Niesha.

"And . . .you know . . ." Krea looked around to make sure no one else would overhear, then she whispered, "Sex."

Zea gasped, and Krea rolled her eyes.

"Where have you been!? He's the only male, he kind of has to if we want any babies!"

"What if . . . one of us tried to seduce him into going into war!" Kesha suddenly cried out, looking up from her book.

"Who are you?" asked Krea, looking at her in surprise.

"That's Kesha," Neisha said. "She's always been there."

"Hmm . . ." Krea said. She hardly remembered Kesha, who never said anything.

"I'm sorry," Kesha said. "I read a lot . . . That's a stupid idea."

"You can say that again!" Aria said. "That is so not in Gerudo code!"

"Wait . . ." Krea said. "What if Nabooru did it . . . she's practically in the King's pants already!"

"Krea, she is not," said Niesha. "She said that–"

"Yeah, yeah," Krea waved her off. "Well whatever her relationship is with the King, it's way closer than any of us with him. Nabooru's the one that can convince him if anyone can."

The group of girls cornered Nabooru at the Archery Course. "Man," she said. "It's like you guys travel in packs."

"Nabooru . . . we all need to discuss something important."

Nabooru rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Do you think we should go to war?"

"Um . . . hell yeah! What? You guys have a plan on that?!"

Krea started talking. "One of us has to convince the King it's the right thing to do . . . . you know, like, seduce him into it. You catch what I'm saying?"

"I . . . think so . . . yeah, good luck with that. And here I thought you guys had a _good_ plan. The King isn't going to give any of you a second glance."

"Why thank you, Nabooru," Krea said between her teeth. "You're right. We are about as worthless as a bunch of drunk Hylians. None of us could be able to do it."

"You got that right," Nabooru agreed.

"_You_ , on the other hand . . ."

"What?!"

"I thought you could do anything, Nabooru."

"Doesn't mean that I'll _do_ everything."

"See Niesha, I told you she'd chicken out."

"Fine, you just want me to get the King to declare war. That's easy! But I'm going to do it my way!"

Krea smiled smugly. "What's _your_ way then?"

Nabooru hesitated. "I.. . . I don't know yet."

Krea raised an eyebrow.

"I'll think of something. I'll wing it. Be spontaneous."

"You know . . . if you plan to be spontaneous . . . you're not really spontaneous," Niesha pointed out.

"Whatever," Nabooru said.

It was the Day of Rebirth, a holiday that the Gerudo celebrated. It was said to be the day when the first king died, and seconds later, the new king was born, hence the name. Nabooru didn't much care for holidays. The Gerudo were often too serious to even do a good job of celebrating, and much of their holidays were like any other day.

But since it was a 'Holiday,' the King had to do a bunch of random needless stuff. Most of this stuff consisted of sitting on his throne and doing nothing, as other people gave him offerings. Ganondorf had told her that the whole process was very boring, and Nabooru for once did not feel jealousy towards him.

So this was where Ganondorf was . . . and that was where Nabooru went, her friends close behind her. Once she got to the doors of the throne room, however, her friends stopped.

"We'll wait here," said Krea.

"You guys are so pathetic," Nabooru said.

"We can't go in there! You can't go in there! You need permission to enter the throne room to see the King!" cried out Aria.

Music could be heard from the other side of the doors. Some performance must have been going on to 'entertain' the King. Nabooru stared at the other girls for a moment, before turning around and throwing the doors open.

The girls scrambled out of sight, so it wouldn't seem like they were a part of Nabooru's interruption.

The women who appeared to be dancing in the King's honor hesitated when they heard the sound of the massive doors hit the wall. Maybe they briefly thought whoever had burst into the room had something important to say. She could see Ganondorf lift his head from his hand and raise an eyebrow at her unexpected appearance.

Well this was important . . . well not entirely, but Nabooru hoped to _lead_ it into something important. Demanding from the King that we should go to war was just not going to cut it.

She crossed the floor, only getting _slightly_ in the way of the dancers. Once she was near the throne, however, the guards cut her off.

"What business do you have here, Nabooru?" asked one of the guards angrily.

Nabooru laughed. "Private business that I don't care to explain to you about." She ducked under the spears that were blocking her path and climbed up onto the arm of Ganondorf's thrown.

"Why you . . . ! I'll stick this spear through-"

"It's all right," Ganondorf said, holding up his hand. "Though Nabooru, I do ask for you to be a little more polite, or you might make someone angry."

The guard spun around back to facing the dancers, clearly angry.

Nabooru shrugged her shoulders. "Eh . . . I'll think about it."

Ganondorf turned his attention back to the dancers, not willing to argue with her today. "What brings you here today?"

"I thought you'd get bored, so I'm giving you the honor of my presence."

"I do tend to find these celebrations unpleasant . . . but this one's not so bad."

"If you find woman in flashy colors shaking their bodies around pleasant."

Ganondorf laughed softly, the low note hit Nabooru's favorite sound exactly. "Actually I find this absolutely mesmerizing."

Nabooru watched the girls move around gracefully and slowly, bending into and out of positions so smoothly they looked like they were made of water.

"So you're saying . . . you like that kind of stuff?"

Ganondorf only grinned, his eyes still on the dancers. "I have a question for you, Nabooru. Are you planning on becoming a combat artist like your mother?"

"Hell no! Well . . . maybe . . . I don't know. I haven't decided yet."

"I've noticed you've done your share of many other skills."'

"Yeah . . . I like to do a lot of things."

"But I've never seen you try dancing before."

"What?!"

"I was just wondering why . . . You're built for it. Is it that you can't dance?"

"WHA . . .?!" Nabooru's face turned bright red. "I CAN DANCE BETTER THEN YOU CAN, YOU RETARDED ANIMAL!" She slapped him over and over again on the shoulder.

Ganondorf chucked. "I bet you're right."

"Hey!" The guard spun around when she heard the sound of slapping. Ganondor held up a hand again, and the guard once again turned back around.

"Hitting me when there is no one around is one thing, but maybe you shouldn't do it when we are in public."

"Well, you obviously don't get smacked enough!"

"I was smacked plenty when I was little. I'm supposed to be out of that stage."

"Maybe you're not."

"Maybe _you're_ not."

"I liked to see you try, buster."

"Yeah . . . You might be right about that."

"You'd have to beg to even just be in my amazing presence . . . and I _might_ agree to see you."

"So . . . asking you to dance before me is probably not a good idea . . ."

"HELL NO!" She started hitting him again and he grinned.

* * *

"So, how did it go?" asked Niesha.

"The King is a dirty bastard!" Nabooru cried out angrily.

"You can't say that about the King!" cried out Aria.

"So you _did _ sleep with him . . ." Krea mused.

"No!" cried out Nabooru. "I was in the stupid throne room with a bunch of people! How could that even be possible?!"

Krea shrugged. "It's still possible."

"Then what happened?" Niesha asked.

"He was going on about dancing . . . And blady blah 'it's mesmerizing . . . Why don't you do it, you can't dance'? I'll dance my foot up his ass!"

"He asked you to dance for him?" asked Aria.

"Yeah, but only to get me angry."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever seen me dance?"

"No . . ."

"Exactly! Which means he has never seen me dance either, and that means he thinks I can't!"

"You can?"

"And since he thinks I can't, he wants to embarrass me by making me try! That's his dirty bastardy plan!"

"Well . . . maybe he wants you to dance because he thinks you're pretty . . ." suggested Zea.

Nabooru stared at her for a good five minutes. "ARE YOU RETARDED?!"

"Oh! I have a new plan!" Niesha said. "Nabooru will dance for the King, he'll fall in love with her, and then when his mind is all fogged up with how much he loves Nabooru, she can convince him to go to war!"

Nabooru fought back the urge to strangle Niesha. She had to remember that she liked Niesha . . . though right now, she couldn't remember _why_ . . . .

"Out of all the Gerudo, why would the King break the rules by 'falling in love?'"

Nabooru almost allowed herself to feel relieved before Niesha said, "He's the King. He can practicably do whatever he wants."

"And besides, we don't need him 'in love.' We just need him dumb enough to not be thinking straight."

Nabooru was almost about to panic. "Can't we just get him drunk or something?!"

Krea looked at Nabooru. "Good idea, Nabooru! Seduce the King, get him drunk, seduce him some more. The right combination is bound to work!"

Nabooru stood there dumbly for a second.

"It's perfect!" Krea cried out. "Thanks for volunteering!" She patted Nabooru on the back.

* * *

"Ganondorf!" Man . . . that came out much louder than she'd meant it to. He was only a few feet away from her, mending the leather of a bridle. She had filled her water sack with saki, though she really didn't know what she was going to do with it. She had no plan whatsoever, and was very unprepared when she found Ganondof outside the barn.

He looked up. "What?"

"Shut up! I'm trying to think!"

Ganondorf stared at her blankly, waiting for her to finish thinking.

"Here," she said, thrusting the water sack in his face.

"What's this?"

"It's a drink! I thought you might be thirsty!"

"You got me a drink?"

"Yes!"

Ganondorf took the sack, but hesitated. "Why . . .?"

"Why what?!"

"Did you do something to it?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, put sand in it, pee in it or something equally disgusting?"

"Why would I do that! I'm trying to be nice! It's just water! I'd thought you'd be thirsty, and here I am, being nice, and you have to say-"

"Ok, Ok . . ." Ganondorf looked at her for another second before he took a swig. "This isn't water," He said.

"Yes it is."

"No it's not. It tastes like saki."

"It's not saki!"

"I think it is."

"It's not! What do you know?! You're dehydrated and disoriented! You don't know!"

Ganondorf gave Nabooru a long look.

"What?!"

"That's what I was thinking."

"Well stop thinking, and keep drinking!"

". . . Are you trying to get me drunk?"

"No!"

There was another awkward silence.

". . .Thank you . . .?"

"Forget it!"

"I'll try."

Realizing, she wasn't getting anywhere, she decided to cut to the chase. "What the hell?!" she cried.

"If I knew, I'd tell you," Ganondorf said.

"Why the hell won't you declare war with the Hylians!"

"So that's what this about . . ."

Nabooru swallowed thickly and let her face turn back to the right color. She was glad that it was out in the open now. "Why?" she asked again.

"Because all of you would die in war."

"WHAT!? THAT'S NOT TRUE! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DON'T HAVE ANY FAITH IN ME!" And as an after thought she added, "IN ANY OF US!"

"Nabooru, you've never been in war. You don't know what it's like."

"Neither have you!"

Ganondorf gave her a long look.

"So see? We can totally take those Hylians on. We'd blow them away!"

"There aren't enough of us,"

"We can fight better than they can. We've all been training. How much do you think the Hylians have trained?"

"You'll die."

"Well, if I do, it's the right thing to do! We'll win eventually!"

"No, we won't"

"_Yes,_ we would!"

"Nabooru!" Ganondorf snapped, making Nabooru freeze. Ganondorf picked up his sword. Nabooru was glad it was just a scimitar, instead of the humongous sword that she saw him with the other night. "I want you to fight me."

"Really?" asked Nabooru, excitement evident in her voice.

"You think you're ready for war? This isn't going to be even close to it."

"Whatever," Nabooru said. "I'll beat your ass just like last time."

Ganondorf simply walked a little way, so that they'd have more room. Then he looked at her, showing her that he was ready.

Nabooru had two scimitars with her, and she was about to put one down, when he said, "Keep it."

"Wha-?!"

"You'd have both of them in a battle."

"But that gives me the advantage."

"I'm a wimpy Hylian, remember?"

Nabooru narrowed her eyes at him, but eventually agreed. After a moment, Nabooru swung both swords at Ganondorf, who blocked them with his sword. He flung them away, causing Nabooru to violently spin around, making her dizzy. He thrust his sword at her, and Nabooru barely dodged it.

So Ganondorf wanted to play rough, huh? She whipped her sword at him, then the other. He needed to get his sword free from her first before he could block the second. Nabooru didn't stop. She repeatedly swung at him and he had to move twice as fast to deflect each blow. Nabooru slowly started to make him back up. His eyes were concentrated on what he was doing, his eyebrows drawn together. Nabooru thought his face looked handsome . . . it made her want to slice it off. She put a little more force into a strike, and Ganondorf eyes widen a fraction as he barely caught that one.

_That's right, Ganandorf . . . You're gonna loose . . . ._

Nabooru ducked under a swing from Ganondorf, and with her hands pushing herself up from the ground she gave him a kick. Ganondof backed away to avoid it, letting out a breath. He had a feeling he knew where she had been aiming at. She twirled around him, trying to get behind him, but Ganondorf made sure not to let her. He had fallen for that before, and wouldn't do it again.

Eventually, they started clashing swords again, and Nabooru suddenly felt one of her swords slip from her grip as Ganondorf flipped it up. While it was still in the air, he knocked it away with his sword, and it crashed to the ground far away.

Oh crap . . .

Ganondorf attacked her and she deflected it with her one sword, but the force of him made it feel like her arm would rip off and she let out a cry of pain. She was able to deflect one more, before she lost that one too. Before she could make a run for her fallen sword, Ganondorf grabbed her around her middle with one arm, and slammed her into the side of the barn, pinning her there.

"Oof!"

"I win," he growled into her ear, making shivers go down her back.

"YOU DIRTY CHEATER!" she cried, kicking and clutching at his arm. "LET ME GO!"

"Because in war, no one ever cheats," Ganondorf said sarcastically.

On the other side of the wall, happened to be the stall of . . . no other then the Beast from Hell, who was not happy at the commotion. He screamed and kicked the wall, sending a jolt of pain to Nabooru's back.

Ganondorf sighed, but he did not let go of Nabooru, who, still kicking the wall, making Shadow even more nervous. "Shh . . . be still . . ." He murmured into the wall. Nabooru couldn't tell if he was talking to the horse or to her. He had his body pinning her to the wall, his heart still pounding quickly from the fight, and his skin was sweaty and slippery. She needed to get away. "It's alright . . . be still." Nabooru felt her self relax and her body go limp. His breath tickled her ear. She was nervous and wanted to leave, but she was too tired from the fight, and Ganondorf's voice was so deep and soothing. "That's right . . . calm down." The horse began to quiet. She felt herself to slip, and as her feet touched the ground, he held her tighter to his side. Her knees probably would have buckled if he had let go anyway.

He suddenly released her, and she fell back against the wall.

"And that's why we're not ready for war. You lost. And you're the best I got." He turned and walked away, heading for the inside of the barn.

Nabooru slid to the ground, breathing hard.

THAT JERK! She was going to kill him some day. That's right . . . she didn't care if the crime was her death, she was going to kill him!

She threw sand on herself and brushed it off, trying to get his sweat off her skin.

Stupid Ganondorf.

She got up, and heard him on the other side of the wall, talking to his horse. Before she left, she stood a little bit longer to hear his voice.

* * *

"So how did it go?" asked Niesha.

"Horrible!" Nabooru cried.

"Why are you all sweaty and dirty?" asked Yasha.

"B-because." Nabooru didn't want everyone to know she got her ass kicked.

Aria's eyes got wide as she stared at Nabooru. "Oh my Goddesses! You didn't!"

"I didn't what?"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SEDUCED THE KING! WHAT IF YOU GET PREGNANT?!"

"WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Nabooru screamed back at her.

"I'll say," said Krea. "Why are you breathing so hard, Nabooru?"

"Shut up, he said no anyway."

"So you did it with him, and he still said no?" asked Yasha.

"WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Nabooru cried out again. "Din! I'm going to kill you all!"

"You're just going to have to keep doing it until he caves," Krea said.

"WHAT?!"

"WHAT IF SHE GETS PREGNANT?!"

"Birth control," Yasha said.

"THE GERUDO DON'T HAVE ANY BIRTH CONTROL!" The Gerudo didn't believe in birth control. If you were going to do it, you might as well get a kid out of it. There population was small, and only had a few opportunities to reproduce. If you had the chance, take it. The Gerudo were also actually a practical people. They didn't just throw it around, like they were rumored to do. The Hylians had come to that conclusion when they saw the "suggestive" clothes that the Gerudo tended to wear. They didn't seem to realize just how hot the desert was. . . . And just because they had one man in their whole population. . . .  
Most Gerudo could control themselves.

"Would you guys just be quiet?!" shouted Nabooru.

"You're right," said Krea. "If the King didn't say yes, it must mean she wasn't good enough." Krea didn't have a chance to blink before Nabooru's sword swung at her. She was hit with the flat side of the weapon and thrown to the ground. She sat up and touched a hand to her nose, scowling when it came away bloody.

"DOES ANY ONE ELSE HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY?!" Nabooru demanded, brandishing her weapons.  
They all shook their heads.

"Ow! Dammit!" Krea moaned, glaring at Nabooru. Nabooru looked down at her.

"If you want me to break something else, keep talking."

Krea shut her mouth and Nabooru stomped away.

* * *

Nabooru was pissed.

Really pissed.

She couldn't remember a time when she had been this pissed before.

Stupid Ganondorf . . . Stupid friends . . . stupid desert.

She was so angry. . . . She had a strange, reckless urge to break the rules for no reason.

That'd show Ganondorf.

* * *

A young Hylian lined up his sword so that it was level with his blue eye. He nudged the apple a little. "If I can get this exactly in the middle, then I should be able to slice between the bones of a vertebra . . . right? That would make the swipe smoother."

"I think you're kind of sick, Aaron," answered his friend, who looked a little like he'd be sick.

"Right . . ." Aaron said, not listening, still trying to position the apple just right. "There. Now, don't move." He stood back and looked at his very unhappy friend who had an apple balanced delicately on his head. Aaron grinned at him. "Good thing you're short. You're the perfect size with that apple on your head." He turned around.

"WAIT! Don't do it yet!"

Aaron turned back to him. "Why? And stop moving." He pushed the apple back into place with the tip of his sword.

"The waitresses don't come out for their lunch break until at least two more minutes."

Aaron gave him an odd look. "Ian, were not doing this to show off. We're doing this to help me."

"And that will help you! Its not going to help me any. You're the one that's doing the sword thing. I'm just the apple guy."

Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on . . . Its just a couple more seconds." Just then the bar door opened. "Oh, is that the -- AHHH!" Aaron suddenly cut the apple in half off of Ian's head. He did it so fast, that Ian's reaction was actually late. Aaron went after the pieces.

"I think they missed it, Aaron."

"We have to measure the pieces to make sure they're perfectly symmetrical!" He gasped. "We need a ruler!"

"Aaron, chill," said Ian as he wiggled his eyebrows at the waitresses that walked by. They gave him a disgusted look before walking away. "Damn . . . hey Aaron?"

Aaron was busy measuring the apples halves with his thump. "Ah man . . . I think I'm off by a millimeter . . . how thick is the cartilage in between the bones?"

Ian took Aaron's head and made him look over at the woman eating lunch. "You see that girl? The busty redheaded one?"

"Yes . . . I mean no! No, Ian!"

"I know, I know! That's not what I meant! I mean for me." He let go of Aaron's head, moving to stand in front of him. "Eh? Eh?" He held up his arm as if it was around a woman's shoulders. "Can you see it?"

"I don't know . . ." Aaron said, looking back and forth from Ian to the woman. "She's taller then you . . ." Ian frowned, and moved his arm to the imaginary woman's waist.

"Happy now?"

"Ah . . ."

"Hey, I bet I'm at least heavier," Ian pointed out.

"And that means . . . ?"

"She's the one."

"Whatever. Good luck with that." Aaron turned as if he was going to leave. He had to find a ruler, after all.

"Wait!" Ian grabbed Aaron's sleeve. "That's why you've got to talk to her for me!"

"What?! Why do I have to do it?"

"Aaron, come one. You're prettier than I am."

"I am not."

Ian started laughing. Aaron stood there, his expression blank.

Aaron was rather attractive, tall with long-ish blond hair that fell into his face in a nice way. Ian had dark hair, a slight beer gut, and a mustache that he refused to get rid of. The woman were watching them and whispering to each other, giggling slightly. To tell the truth, Aaron would rather be the apple instead of going over there. "Don't worry, I'll go with you. First we need a conversation starter. I know! Ask if they want some apple," he said as he took one of the halves from Aaron.  
Aaron took it back. "I need to measure that," he said.

"You know, you're really weird." They walked over to the girls.

"Hey," said Ian, stroking his black mustache while Aaron said, "Good afternoon," awkwardly.

"Hi," said each of the girls. "You guys work for the army?"

"We're actually knights," Ian said.

One of the girls put a hand over her heart. "Really?"

"Well . . . we don't get knighted till next week," Aaron added unhelpfully.

"Shut up, Aaron."

"So your name is Aaron?" asked the red-haired one.

"Yes, ma'am. And this is Ian." He tried to take her attention away from him.

"Would you girls like some apple?" asked Ian, and of course Aaron was the one with the apple, so the attention was back to him.

He offered the girl one half of the apple, and instead of taking it with her hands, she just bit into it.

"Well," Aaron said holding up the bitten apples that was now running juice on his fingers, the girls smiling at him. "That's . . .That's just lovely."

"Yes, very lovely," Ian agreed inspecting the bite marks.

"Of course my experiment is now ruined,"

"What was your experiment on?" asked the girl.

Aaron threw the apple half up in the air and caught it before patting Ian on the back. "Ian can tell you all about it." Ian went on about the "symbol of the apple" and what it had to do with love, while Aaron looked around disinterestedly. His eyebrows shot up as he saw a commotion near the gates of Hyrule Field.

"The Zora are here!" Someone cried out excitedly. Aaron's eyebrows drew together. That couldn't be good.


	12. Chapter 12 The Zora Are Not Happy

An: Ok . . .I have finished reading through it, so you Casey, can review it since you are the only one who does. Maybe it's not us, maybe people are just not into Zelda anymore . . .or the chapter are too long.

Chapter 12

The Zora Are Not Happy

Aaron narrowed his eyes as he tried to see what was going on at the gates. He poked Ian in the side, but Ian ignored him.

"Ian. . . ." Aaron continued to poke him, but Ian waved his hand. "I'll be right back." Aaron made his way over to where the commotion was, until two large hands landed on his shoulders and turned him around. He managed to take one quick gasp of air before his face was pressed into a large chest.

"AARON, MY BOY!" The Commander in Chief of the Hylian Army held him in a crushing hug a moment longer while Aaron flailed about, his breath running out. He held Aaron at arm's length and gazed at him, misty-eyed. "You ready for your big day tomorrow?"

Aaron nodded, red-faced.

"Oh, your parents must be so proud! _I'm_ proud! I wish you were_ my_ son!"

Aaron nodded again "Y-yes, sir."

His forehead creased, and his eyebrows drew together. "What's the matter with ya?"

"Nothing that I can recall, sir."

"You been drinking?"

"No, sir."

The Commander gave him a wry smile. "You been playing with the ladies?"

"No, sir."

"There's nothing wrong with that. A young man like you should be celebrating!"

"I don't want to have any distractions keeping me from serving my country, sir."

The commander gave him a long look. "Is that so . . . . Then you are excused. Say hi to your parents for me."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"And Aaron?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Tomorrow you'll be Sir Aaron." Aaron's stomach did a flip-flop. "So . . . lighten up. You'll still take orders from the King and all, but don't let anyone of a lower rank push you around."

Aaron nodded.

"Yeah. . . . HEY, IAN!"

"W-what?"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"I MEAN WHAT, _SIR_!?"

As the Commander started to interrogate Ian, Aaron escaped to the main gates, where a bunch of solders were arguing. He climbed the steps that took him above the drawbridge.

"What's going on here?" Aaron asked.

"Hey, Aaron. There are a bunch of Zora here that we can't get rid of. We might have to call in some reinforcements."

Aaron looked over the edge. In a sea of blue, what looked like a whole army of Zora stood before them, expressionless, except for the leader who was glaring up at them.

"A bunch? That's more than a bunch!"

"Yeah, well, they won't go away."

The Zora was saying something, but his voice was too quiet for them to hear.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Aaron called out to him, leaning over the wall.

"Aaron! Do you want to die!?" asked a man who pulled him away from the edge. "They're armed!"

"We can't hear what they're saying! Don't you think it might _possibly_ be important? They look like they have some sort of letter too."

"Are you going to volunteer yourself to go down there and ask them?"

"That's a good idea!"

"I was kidding!"

Aaron ran into the small equipment room and grabbed a coil of rope. When he came back he was tying it around his waist. The person in charge for today's guarding duty looked at Aaron. "Seriously, Aaron. I can't let you do this."

"Come on, it's not like they're Gerudo. You going to let me drop or what?" They all took the end of the rope, for fear that he might jump over the edge if they did not.

As they slowly lowered Aaron from the wall, the Zora watched curiously.

_"Shall I shoot it down?"_ asked one of the Zora to Luke.

Luke held up his hand. "_Hold on . . . The Queen wants to be peaceful."_

_"But what are they doing?"_

_"I have no idea. They're Hylians."_

Aaron found a dilemma as he stared into the moat below his feet. "I'M GONNA SWING TO LAND!" he cried up to his fellow Hylians, before he started to do just that. The problem with doing that was that his body kept slamming into to the wall. After ramming himself mercilessly for a while he cut the rope, and landed inches away from the edge of the moat in a roll. He almost landed on his sword.

He winced as he pushed himself off the ground . . . and found about 50 Zora arrows pointed at him.

"AARON! SHOULD WE FIRE!?"

"NO! HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

"Hold our fire? Can he hold our fire? Sir, what do we do?" the soldier asked his superior.

"Hold your fire."

"What?!"

Aaron looked at the unfriendly Zora. "Hello. How are you fine people doing today?"

Luke looked at him before saying, "Y . . . Your king, has s-sent us . . . a letter." He held up a piece of paper.

"Do you mind?" Aaron asked as he took the letter. He read it and let out a whistle. It was definitely from their king. He loved how they were notified about this kind of stuff and didn't have to deal with annoying negotiations at the gate. "Okay. . . ." Aaron said, still looking at the letter.

"AARON?!"

"I . . . do not unders-stand when your comrades . . . sh . . . sh . . . shout."

Aaron looked back up the wall. "WOULD YOU GUYS QUIT SCREAMING AT THESE POOR PEOPLE?!"

The soldiers only blinked.

"Okay," Aaron said to Luke. "Don't worry, I'll take care of all this for you guys. Just . . ." He made a hand motion to lower their weapons. "Just hold your fire."

He turned back to the soldiers. "THEY GOT A LETTER FROM THE KING TO LET ENTRY FOR ONE ZORA!"

"THEN WHY IS THERE A WHOLE ARMY OF 'EM!? AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THE LETTER'S NOT FAKE!?"

"THEY CAN HARDLY SPEAK HYLIAN! GIVE THEM A BREAK!" Aaron didn't like talking about the Zora when they were only a couple of feet away.

"I will enter," said Luke to Aaron. "If I do not return, my men will attack."

Aaron's eyes widened at the threat. "Sure thing, sir. I'll personally escort you and nothing bad will happen to you."

The Zora gave him a look that made him uncomfortable, but Aaron ignored that and raised his arm to the soldiers. "'KAY, LOWER THE BRIDGE!"

The other guards gave each other incredulous looks, but the bridge was lowered.

Aaron and Luke walked across the bridge. Luke looked at Aaron before asking, "What po . . .si_tion_. . ." he stuttered over the word, ". . . that gives you thi . . .s power?"

Aaron looked back at him, not sure what to say. "I'm not that big, sir. Not yet, anyway. Just Aaron."

Aaron chewed on the inside of his mouth. Where was he in this messed-up hierarchy? There was a complected system of foot solders and archers, captains, colonels, generales, the calvary and a whole bunch of others that he couldn't think of off the top of his head. The longer you were in, the farther you moved up in rank. That was the army. Above them in class were the nobles, dukes, lords, and the Royal Family; though most of these people knew nothing of military, they had to be protected over anyone in the army and the common people. Now the common people were classed by wealth, but he didn't pay much attention to that. He was in the Army. He was going to be a knight. Where did that fit in? Only a few people could be one of the King's knights -- only a handful were deemed good enough -- but what did that mean?

He had asked his father once, and his father had said, "Well, my dear boy, a knight is a class of its own!"

Whatever the hell that meant.

People respected Aaron, that was all that mattered, he supposed. Knight had to be pretty high up there, whatever it was. It was kind of like the Shiekah, who also complicated things to a whole new level.

Basically, you don't mess with a Sheikah. Not even the knights. . . .

But the Sheikah were supposed to be good. _S__upposed_ to be.

The Gerudo were bad. _Supposedly._

The Zora . . . right next to him, watching him intently. Aaron let out a nervous sigh.

The walk to the castle seem to take forever. The Zora seemed to be moving slowly, but Aaron had to lengthen his stride to keep up with him. Other solders accompanied them to the castle as well. It gave Aaron the impression that the Zora was their prisoner. He hoped there wouldn't be a problem.

"AARON!" a voice called, and Ian jogged up to them, slowing down as he caught sight of the Zora. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open, as if trying to decide how to greet the fish person. He settled for nodding his head rather awkwardly before falling in step with Aaron, the Zora watching them the whole time.

"Aaron," he whispered again.

"What?" Aaron whispered back, slightly irritated. He didn't know why, but he felt like they were carrying a bomb that would go off in any second.

"The Commander said that if I don't shape up, he's not going to let me get knighted tomorrow."

"What?! Ian, no! Why not!?"

"I'm just not as good as you . . ."

"_Ian,_" Aaron hissed. "Don't act that way. For some reason, whenever we train together, you don't try. I've _seen_ you when you try. You're amazing. You have to get_ focused_."

Ian sighed. "What's the point?"

"The point is," Aaron said between clenched teeth, "that you are _not _going to let me become one of the King's knights by myself. Just now, I climbed down the wall of Hyrule Market to talk to Zora!"

"What?!"

"I need you to be there for me when I do stupid things!" The Zora was still watching them. Aaron wondered if the he was following their conversation. "So try, or I'm just going to have to slaughter you."

"Okay, okay. I'll shape up. Don't do anything thing stupid without me."

"Good. Now go and train for the next 24 hours. You are going to get knighted."

"Yeah whatever," Ian said as he parted from the group. Aaron doubted Ian would train for 24 hours – though Aaron might have tried it – but Ian _would_ train.

Ian was good.

Just not compared to Aaron, but that didn't matter because Aaron was a freak, according to Ian.

They were let through the walls that guarded the castle. They were let through because Aaron was with them. His father had been well known in the military and the castle before his retirement. Everyone knew Aaron.

Everything was going smoothly till they got to the doors of the throne room.

When the news got out that a Zora was there, guards started to run all over the place.

"You are not welcome," one of them said, trying to keep from looking like an idiot.

"Yeah, he is." Aaron showed him the letter and smiled, shoving his hands into his pockets and leaning back. He flashed Luke a reassuring grin, trying to let them know that everything was under control.

The guard looked over the letter, his eyes narrowing. He looked up at Aaron. "And you're sure this isn't a forgery?"

"I went over this with the other guards – take it up with them."

The guard's eyes moved from Aaron to the Zora and back again. He took a deep breath and stood aside, pushing the heavy door open with one arm. He leaned into the entrance of the throne room, "A Zora is here to see you!" he shouted, keeping his head down so the King would have a harder time recognizing – and possibly punishing – him.

Aaron winced at the King's rather loud "WHAT?!" He gave a quick glance at the Zora to try to guess how offended he may be.

The guard faced Aaron before the door finished closing. "He's busy."

"Wait -- would you --" Aaron put his shoulder in the door before it shut all the way. It hurt a little more than he'd expected; it was a heavy door. "Wait a second?" He slipped in.

"Hey! You can't go –" Aaron shut the door.

"You're not a Zora!" The King declared.

"Um . . . no. I'm not, but I–"

"Do I know you?"

"No. Not really. I am Aar–"

"GUARDS!"

"Wait! But they have this letter!" Aaron held the letter up as high as he could, waving it around to make it more noticeable.

"Oh _really,_ now? How do you know it's not a forgery?"

"Well, did you write it?"

"Oh. Well. . . . Somebody retrieve the letter for me." One of the men that stood around the room scampered over to Aaron, took the letter and pranced up to the King. The King read the letter, making little noises to himself. He then look up at Aaron. "It appears that this letter is actually _not _a forgery!"

"That's good, right?" Aaron asked.

"Is the Zora here already?"

"He's just right outside."

"Oh, damn. Let him in!" Aaron knocked on the door. "My son must be here to witness this event! DAPHNES!" The King leapt off his chair, his large stomach swinging as he waddled down the steps. "DAPHNES!"

The Princess walked into the room from the side entrance. "ZELDA!" he shouted though she was only a few feet away. "WHERE'S MY SON?!"

Zelda sighed. "I don't know, Your Majesty."

"Well, he must be found! SOMEBODY! FIND HIM!"

Zelda looked up to see Aaron helping the Zora into the room. Her eyes locked on him and didn't even leave when he looked back at her.

Him . . .

She suddenly wanted to go over to him, to fling her arms around him and weep. To thank him over and over. But that made no sense. Thank him for what?

Such feelings were alarming. She was a married woman. She was a princess! She shouldn't be having fantasies about random men . . . if that's what it was.

She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Daphnes smile weakly at her before he followed his father back to the throne. He was more antsy than usual, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

Something was amiss. She looked from the Zora back to the King's fake grin.

"Welcome to the kingdom of Hyrule!" The King boomed.

The Zora twitched his mouth in what might have been a smile, but looked more like a grimace.

"You must be anxious to see the Triforce. It really is amazing. You're lucky that you were chosen on such a noble service. Well, let us get going, shall we?"

The King got up once again. Daphnes followed and so did many of the King's men. "Aar- . . . or whatever your name is, your service here is done ." The Zora's escort was switch to one of the King's men. Zelda went to follow, but the King said, "Oh, Zelda, you can stay here."

And they were gone.

Zelda glared at them for a moment before turning her gaze to Aaron. She hadn't completely dissolved her glare in time, and Aaron bowed to her. Once he did so, he realized that he had forgotten to bow to the King and his son.

"I'm sorry," he said, though he had remembered to bow to Zelda, so he shouldn't be telling the Princess that he was sorry.

"You. Look up at me."

He did so thinking, O_h_ _shit, I'm in trouble_.

"Who are you?"

"Uh . . . My name's Aaron. I'm a squire. I'm supposed to be knighted tomorrow."

Zelda gave him a sad smile. "It's a bad time to be a knight." She sat back down on her throne.

"You think so?"

"There's going to be a war." Zelda sighed, leaning heavily on the armrest and letting her gaze fall to the window.

"Well, wouldn't that make it a _good_ time to be a knight? The more I can do in my service, the better."

Zelda turned her gaze back onto Aaron. He was a weird man, and she almost told him so, but thought against it. Besides, maybe he was just trying to flatter the Royal Family.

"What if your orders went against your better judgement?"

Aaron looked around to make sure no one else was in the room. He was surprised that there didn't seem to be any guards around. The Princess was completely unprotected. "I shouldn't be telling you this . . . but I only really pretend to follow orders. To tell you the truth, just very recently I climbed down the city wall on my own volition." He shrugged. "If something doesn't seem right, I feel like I should fix it, you know?"

She looked at him, somewhat startled. "You couldn't possibly–"

"Don't tell anyone, would you? I'm trying to keep a good image."

Zelda nodded. "I understand." Maybe she'd request his company more often. She found him interesting.

* * *

The Triforce was carried on a pillow by the most trusted of the King's men. The trek that they would have to do was somewhat long; by _long,_ it is meant that the King couldn't simply _walk_ to the destination. He was required to ride a horse, and he had the courtesy to have everyone else require a horse as well.

Unfortunately for Luke, Zora did not ride.

"I will not g-get . . . on that . . . th-thing . . ."

"Oh, come on, son! There's no trick to it! You just simply hoist yourself up there. Somebody help the chap, won't ya?" boomed the King. Nobody seemed to want to touch the Zora and the Zora didn't seem like he wanted to be touched, either.

"I will walk," he said stiffly, though he was still trembling, and flinched whenever he looked at the horse.

"Suit yourself."

They made their way up the mountains that surrounded the country -- or _countries,_ depending who you asked.

The King started a long boring rant about the history of the rocks they walked on. Daphnes played with the mane of his horse.

This was bad. Why had he been sent to accompany them? How could they possibly outsmart the Zora, when the Zora was obviously smarter than his father? The Zora could probably kill them all before anyone did anything. They were doomed. Man, they were doomed.

What was the actual plan on getting rid -- but not really -- of the Triforce? No one ever told him! Indignant panic flooded his body, making him sit up straighter and turn bright pink. No, why would they enlighten _him_ about the plan? He was only the man who would someday rule the country! For people who would someday depend on his judgement, they didn't seem to care much about it.

"And as you can see here, this practically area is a very traditional kind of rock . . . very gray, for here in Hyrule, we are very traditional. It's actually the same type of rock we passed only moments ago . . . and we're about to come to more in just a second–"

"Dad," Daphnes interrupted, "where are we going?"

The King laughed. "Why, to get rid of the Triforce, of course! That's why we came all the way up here!"

Daphnes raised an eyebrow at his father, who had already turned around. This had to end badly.

They finally stopped at their destination: a large cliff, overlooking the sea before them.

"To insure peace and prosperity between the races, we shall toss the Great Triforce into the sea!" The King exclaimed. The Zora's eyes widened, and he pressed his lips together, almost -- but not quite -- suppressing a grin.

"Why would we throw it into the sea? The Zora _live_ in the water! They could find it if we throw it into the sea!" Daphnes hissed to one of the men.

The man shrugged. "We're not really getting rid of it, remember?"

As Daphnes looked carefully, he could barely see what looked like a black thread tied carefully around the Triforce. It was even more difficult to see with the constant glowing of the sacred relic, but Daphnes could see the thread going off the edge of the cliff. He wondered how good the Zora's eyesight was.

"Now! Toss the sacred relic!" The men holding the pillow threw all that they were holding over the edge. The Zora stepped forward to see. the movement was quick and silent, and some of the men drew their weapons. Only a splash could be heard as something fell into the deep waters.

The King laughed nervously. "We don't want you tumbling off the edge, now."

The Zora glared at the King. "I have jumped off of mu . . . ch . . . higher b-before." The Zora went over to the edge and peered into the ocean. "Why does it glow not ?"

"Hmm?" asked the King confused.

"Doess . . . the Triforcce . . . not glow?"

"Oh, well--" The King stammered, realizing he forgot that part of his plan. "The water's very deep and dark. The whole thing's gone by now."

The skeptical Zora was sent back to his people after giving the promise to tell his queen that the Triforce was indeed thrown away. The King and Queen felt instantly relieved once the Zora had gone, but what they did not know was that the Zora had been watching their act from the ocean. Scouts had been placed all around the Hyrulian kingdom, and Luke had been communicating with them in high-pitched sounds that weren't really sounds at all, but waves that were felt. It was a way that the Zora were able to communicate underwater, much like echolocation. It worked much better in the water. Zora were only able to hear out of water in close proximity, but thankfully, ever since the group had gone outside, the other Zora were able to hear just fine. They were even luckier when the group moved close to the ocean.

So these Zora scouts saw when the thin-black-threaded Triforce was thrown over the edge and they saw a group of Hylians, sitting on a small ledge in the middle of the face of the cliff, catch it. The hidden Hylians's position was impossible to see from someone who stood on top of the cliff. When the Triforce was dropped, the hidden Hylians were able to pull it up with the thread, so easily that only the help of the Triforce could have allowed them to do it so effortlessly. One of the Hylians dropped a rather large stone into the waves to make the splash, almost hitting one of the Zora scouts in the head.

With the Hylian's deceit found out, the Zora quickly returned to their Domain to tell their king and queen, shaking with anger.

* * *

Nabooru had stolen a horse and zipped out of the valley. It wasn't all that hard. Nobody questioned her when she saddled the horse up, for why would they? She was just taking it out for some archery practice. No one noticed the cloak she grabbed and stuffed into the saddle bag. Maybe she was taking a little ride around the valley. No big deal that she happened to end up at the Gerudo gates that led to Hyrule Field.

Having Niesha and Yasha be at the post for the day was lucky, too. It had been so easy for Nabooru to say something, frame Yasha for it, and get the girls fighting. Nabooru's work was really too easy.

After crossing the bridge, she took off at a gallop into the forbidden green grass of Hyrule Field. She didn't run the horse for too long -- it would be bad if it dropped dead on her. She slipped off the sweaty, skinny beast and let it graze as they walked through the endless green.

She didn't know what the big deal was. No Hylians out here to come to seize her for being on their land. What was stopping the Gerudo from coming here and just taking over?

Stupid Ganondorf.

She hated the way he was letting the Hylians bully them around like this! She knew what she would do; she'd camp out here for a bit. If nothing happened to her, then it would be safe for the Gerudo to come out here too, right?

The horse was guzzling down the grass like it had never eaten before. At least the beast was getting something out of this. Nabooru sat down on the ground and crossed her legs, bored. She didn't think about how boring this would be when she'd first thought up her plan. There was seriously nothing around, but green. In the distance she could see mountains. There was something else, too, but she couldn't tell what it was, so she decided to go in that direction. It looked like a giant rock in the middle of the field. Maybe it was its own mountain. Nabooru headed out, pulling the reluctant horse with her.

After a few hours of walking, Nabooru climbed back on the horse. Unfortunately, every few steps the horse would try to stop so it could graze. After the fortieth time or so of yanking its head up, Nabooru gave up. She sat there on the horse, staring off in the horizon, when she thought she saw something moving. She squinted, cupping a hand around her eyes, and could just barely see what looked like a horse-drawn wagon lumbering toward her.

At first, Nabooru didn't register this as bad. She was still trying to figure out what this wall of stone that may or may not have been its own mountain was, and didn't much care for a stupid wagon. Then she remembered that whoever was in that wagon was most likely Hylian, and certainly not Gerudo. Her muscles seized up, and she gazed at the oncoming vehicle in horror before realizing that she was only giving them a great view of her non-Hylian face. She pulled her cloak out of her saddle bag and flung it over her, pulling the fabric to hide her features. She looked at the flashy tack that adorned the horse. There wasn't any way she could hide that. It just screamed, "Gerudo."

"FALON!"

Nabooru turned her face, startled at the foreign word. A blonde Hylian girl sprinted up to her. She was obviously one of the people who traveled with the wagon and as she slowed down, she covered her mouth, her eyes widening.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I saw your red hair and thought you were a friend of mine . . . who, eh, has red hair!" She was breathing hard from running. "Terribly sorry! Goddess, this is embarrassing."

Nabooru tried to smile, but her muscles were still stiff from panic, and she was sure it didn't look right.

The wagon pulled up and Nabooru looked over the people in it, wondering if she could outrun or outfight them. The driver was a short, fat man. He was accompanied by two young men, the youngest more a boy than a man. "Why, who is this?" asked the short man.

"I don't know," answered the girl. "I thought she was Falon, but obviously I was wrong. What's your name? I'm Lilly. This is my father, and my brothers, Mark and Chris."

Nabooru blinked, trying to make sense of her strange-accented babbling. "Um . . . well . . . I'm . . . nobody, really!"

"Where are you heading, Miss? Are you traveling all by yourself?" The driver looked up at her kindly.

"Yes. I'm not going anywhere. I was just riding for fun. I was just wondering what that thing was, so I thought I might go over there." Nabooru waved her arm toward the object in the distance.

"You mean Lon Lon Ranch? We're going there ourselves! Why don't you travel with us? It's not safe for a pretty lady such as yourself to be traveling on your own."

Nabooru's face flushed with anger. "I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!"

The older boy laughed. "I like this one, Pop."

"Good. Why don't you marry her?" The boy closed his mouth and blushed.

Nabooru's mouth dropped open. "HE WILL NOT MARRY ME!" Marry?! What the hell did that mean!?

The short man laughed. "Don't worry, Miss, I was only kidding. Come with us!" Nabooru's horse decided that it would like to follow the big horse pulling the wagon, so it made the choice for her. She sat sulkily on her mount. How was she going to get herself out of this one?

"So, where are you from?" asked the younger boy.

"Nowhere," Nabooru answered.

"That sounds interesting."

The older boy eyed the gold harness her horse wore. "You some sorta princess or something?"

"I'm a no one."

He stared at her for an uncomfortable while. "Sorta fancy-looking for a nobody," he said. "You hiding from someone?"

"So what if I am?!" Nabooru demanded.

"Well after we stop at Lon Lon Ranch, were heading off to Hyrule Castle Market Town. We're farmers and we have friends at Lon Lon, so once we visit there, we all go into town together."

"That's amazing," Nabooru said sarcastically.

"I'm sure the Lon Lons would love it if you stayed for dinner! They always are glad to have company to feed!"

Nabooru was about to decline the offer, but her stomach gave her away.

"You seem hungry already!"

She frowned, but didn't argue. Part of her was desperately curious to try some Hylian food, anyway.

As they traced the outskirt of the rock wall -- that was definitely man-made -- they found an opening and traveled through it. The rock wall opened up into a small alcove where Lon Lon ranch was nestled.

A young woman that might have been a little older than Nabooru and Lilly stumbled out of the barn. Nabooru assumed this was Falon, for she had a shock of brilliant red hair. "OH, TALON!" she cried. "THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE! HELLO, EVERYBODY!" And she disappeared into the house. After a moment or two, the girl came out again, dragging behind her a young man with dark hair.

"It's so good to see you guys again! Mary home with the kids?" asked the man.

"Yep. She's just popped out another one, so I thought it best she stayed home."

The dark haired man laughed. "You guys got your own little zoo at home, don't ya?"

"When are you two gonna start having kids?" asked the short man.

Falon blushed. "Oh, I don't know. Talon wants to wait a little longer, until we have more money."

"Talon!"

"I only want what's best for the kid!"

Nabooru noticed another man leave the barn, holding a bucket of water. He was glowering, like the conversation sickened him. Nabooru couldn't say it was all that appealing, either.

"Oh, who's this?" Falon clapped her hands together and stood in front of Nabooru's horse. She blew into its nose and stroked its face. "Is this a new girlfriend?"

At first Nabooru thought she was talking about that horse, and raised her eyebrows at the strange girl, but she soon realized she was talking about her.

"No. I'm no one's friend!"

"She's just a traveler we met on the way here. I thought she deserved a good meal. You don't mind, do you, Talon?" said the short man.

"Of course not! We love having company over! Falon is a wonderful cook!" He kissed Falon on the cheek and she giggled. "Come inside! You must be hungry! Ingo can take care of the horses. INGO!"

The grumpy man came over at the sound of his name, a scowl still plastered onto his face. When his eyes landed on Nabooru's horse, they lingered on its gold-and-ruby incrusted tack. Nabooru frowned at Ingo. She knew a potential thief when she saw one; she'd seen that appraising, eager expression on her friends and in her mirror.

She climbed down from her horse. "Actually, I think I rather take care of my own horse."

"Nonsense! You must be starving! Dinner will get cold! Let Ingo do it. He's been doing it all his life. He's my best friend, that Ingo!" Ingo had an expression on his face that didn't seem to match the statement, so Nabooru was a little confused. She didn't bother thinking about it for too long, though. Let the Hylians deal with their own stupid problems, so long as they left her alone.

The others turned to go back into the house, and Nabooru grabbed Ingo by the collar of his shirt. "_Don't_ even think about taking anything that is mine!" She opened her cloak to flash one of her scimitars at him. His eyes went wide for a second. "_Got it?"_ He nodded his head. "I'll know if you do, so don't try to outsmart me." Then she walked into the house with the others.

"Let me take your cloak," Falon started to say.

"No!" Nabooru put her hands up. "I . . . need it to stay on because . . . it's cold . . . in here."

"Oh." Falon blinked. "Do you want me to make a fire?"

"No, no, no. Don't want you to waste your firewood. I'll just keep this on."

"O . . . kay."

Nabooru ate her meal in silence. The food was foreign to her and give her a bit of a stomachache, but it tasted good. Everyone else talked loudly to one another, trying to catch up on their lives. "Oh, we should give Ingo some dinner, too!" Talon said, getting up.

"Oh yes! Of course!" Falon kissed her husband's cheek, told him to sit back down, put some food on a plate, and left.

"So," Talon said, looking at Nabooru. "Where did you say you were from?"

Nabooru blinked before swallowing her food. "Well, I'm not really from anywhere. I thought I'd get away for a while, you know? This is just like . . . vacation!"

"Traveling for the joy of traveling! Now that's the way to live!" the short man said.

"You are such a beautiful girl. I can say that now that Falon is gone." Talon laughed. "But you shouldn't be wandering by yourself."

Nabooru grimaced and fought the urge to pull out her scimitars. "Would you guys stop telling me that shit? I can take care of myself a lot better than any of you buffoons can!" All the men at the table looked at Nabooru with wide eyes, startled that the young girl had cursed in front of them.

Lilly sighed. "Ignore them. They're a little sexist sometimes."

Nabooru gave the men another glare before stuffing her mouth with more food that made her sick. She had to keep excusing herself to go to the bathroom, where she'd crouch on the floor and pray to the Goddesses to never let another bite of overly-rich Hylian food pass her lips going in either direction. Then she'd vomit again.

Much later, after her stomach had settled down some, Nabooru, Lilly and Falon were in a large room with simple yet homey decorations. They were to have the main bedroom, while the men slept in the guest room. Talon graciously gave up his bed for the girls -- and he wanted to spend some time with the guys as well, since he hadn't seen them in so long.

Nabooru stood there awkwardly with her cloak still on while the other two girls got ready for bed. "Here, I got you some more blankets." Falon handed Nabooru the bundle of cloth.

"Thanks." Nabooru clutched her cloak. No one had made another offer to try to take it away from her again, but she wasn't taking any chances.

Lilly and Falon climbed into the big bed.

"You know, I think I'm going to sleep on the floor," Nabooru said. "It'll leave more room for the two of you."

"You don't have to be afraid, you know," Falon said. "I won't tell anyone what you are."

"WHAT!? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?"

"You're a Gerudo, aren't you? I won't tell anyone. As long as you don't steal anything. We're short on money here, and we need everything that we have."

Nabooru eyed Falon, her lips pursing. Lilly blinked at both of them. "She's a what?"

"Do any of the . . . _men_ think that, too?" "Men" was such a foreign word to her. It was disgusting to even say it.

"Talon must know. And Ingo too. The others may not because they're not from around here, but Talon, Ingo and I have lived her for quite some time now." Nabooru had a murderous look on her face, as if she was about to go slaughter Talon and Ingo at that moment. "Oh, but please! Talon wouldn't hurt a fly! And Ingo is very sweet!"

Nabooru looked at the young red-haired woman, feeling a mixture of pity and incredulity for her naivete. "I hate to tell you this, sister, but that worker guy doesn't look too friendly to me."

"Um, well." Falon blushed. "He's not very happy with Talon at the moment . . . or me . . . since we got married, but I'm sure he'll forgive us eventually. Talon's his best friend."

_Married_ . . . there was that word again. "What the hell does 'married' mean?"

Lilly stared at Nabooru. "You don't know what 'married' means?"

Before Nabooru could snap at Lilly, Falon interrupted. "The Gerudo culture is different than ours. They don't believe in marriage." She blushed and looked up at Nabooru from under her eyelashes. "Or so I've been told. I could be wrong."

Nabooru ignored that, crossing her arms over her chest. "What is it, anyway? Some rite of passage?"

"Well . . ." Lilly said. "When two people love each other, they decide they want to–"

"Love?! _Now_ I know why it isn't in our culture."

"You don't believe in love, either?" Lilly asked.

"Love is stupid. It makes _you_ stupid! How would you like to live your whole life _stupid_ all the time!?"

Lilly sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"Wait a second. . . ." Nabooru tapped her lips with one finger, thinking. "You guys are Hylians, right?"

"Obviously," Lilly replied.

"So you _must _know about birth control!"

"_What_?!" Lilly and Falon asked at the same time.

"You know, having sex without making a baby?"

"Well . . ." Lilly blushed, and Nabooru realized that Hylians blushed a lot more often than Gerudo. Why was that? "I'm not the best person to ask. I'm still a virgin, and my mom obviously doesn't use any because she keeps having more kids."

Falon face was much redder than Lilly's. "What do you want to know about them?" she squeaked.

"I need some. You have any?"

"I'm actually out, but you can go to Hyrule Castle Market Town. There's this woman that I go to. You can come with us when we go tomorrow."

"Why do you want birth control potion if you don't believe in love or marriage? Are you planning on screwing a guy just for the sake of screwing?"

"Hey, shut up, blondie! It's not your place to ask my intentions."

"Unless you _do _love him, and you don't want anyone to find out, so you're buying Hylian birth control. That's so romantic!" The scimitars were out.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

Lilly and Falon screamed.

The men wondered how much fun those girls were having upstairs.

Nabooru slept on the floor that night.

* * *

"Knighting is always an exciting time," the King said idly. The thrown room was filled with people who were apparently important. Daphnes didn't particularly like knighting. Well, now it was okay, since all he really had to do was sit on his throne and do nothing, but eventually he would be King, and the King had to knight the soldiers. As easy as the job looked, Daphnes had surprisingly little faith in not accidently cutting off an ear. Yep. . . . He could just see himself doing that. Zelda would be proud.

"Isn't that the man that was in here yesterday?" Zelda whispered into Daphnes's ear. This startled him, for Zelda was almost always silent at occasions like this one.

"W-what?"

"The man over there."

Daphnes narrowed his eyes as he tried to see in the distance. He looked back at Zelda and there was a smile on her face.

"I have a good feeling about that man," she said. "He should be a good knight."

"You have a feeling?" Daphnes grinned back at her.

"You had a feeling about the Triforce, right? Can't I have feelings, too?"

"Of course!"

Among the group of young men who stood proudly, waiting for their name to be called, was Aaron. He put a hand on Ian's shoulder. "See? You made it, man!"

Ian let out a sigh. "Yeah. Just barely, though."

"What are you talking about? You're one of the best men in this room."

"Not really . . ."

"Look at that guy," Aaron pointed at a somewhat short man, shorter even than Ian, who was unnaturally thin. "You could blow that guy over by talking to him."

Ian laughed. "You're right. How can he even pick up a sword? It looks like his arm would break!"

They both started laughing until they accidently bumped up against someone quite large behind them.

"Excuse me," the man said in a deep voice before moving around them to stand next to the shrimpy guy. Aaron and Ian watched him with wide eyes. Had they been making fun of a guy who was friends with _that?!_

Aaron's name was called and he suddenly lost feeling in his whole body. This was what he had been training for his whole life. This was his destiny, waiting for him to step up and kneel before the King. He moved forward, hardly aware that he was doing it. He let out a breath before kneeling down, staring at the bottom of the King's robes. A list of Aaron's accomplishments was read, and the King noticed that he had far more than the others.

"Well my boy, you seem to be of something of a prodigy . . ."

"Your Majesty," Aaron managed, his mouth dry and his throat numb. He was a little afraid to look up. The King might recognize him from yesterday, and he hadn't given the best first impression.

The King placed the tip of the sword on either side of Aaron's shoulders, mumbling the phrase he was suppose to say. He had said it a dozen times already, the only difference was that the names changed. Right after he was done, a messenger ran into the room. "Your Majesty!"

The King sighed and turned to Aaron. "I'm sorry about this."

"No, it's okay. I don't mind."

"Your Majesty." The messenger handed the King a letter. The King read it quietly to himself, but Aaron was close enough to be able to hear what he said.

"War . . . with the Zora?"


End file.
